m 



13 TORY 



OF AMERICAN 
BAPTIST MISSIONS 



MSRRiA/A 




Book JVLk 

GopyrightN°_ 

COPYRIGHT 'DEPOSIT. 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 



A History 

of 
American Baptist Missions 

Revised Edition with Centennial Supplement 



By 
Edmund F. Merriam 

Editor of " The Baptist Missionary Magazine " 
" The Watchman " 

Author of "The American Baptist Missionary 
Union and its Missions," etc. 



Philadelphia 

American Baptist Publication Society 

1913 



^ 

^\<> 

w 



Copyright :gio by the 
American Baptist Publication Society 



Copyright 1913 by 
A. J. Rowland, Secretary 



from tbe Society's own press 






Go 

The heroic and devoted men 

and women from the ranks of American 

'Baptists who, in the name of the Lord Jesus, have 

left their native land and often in privation and peril have given 

their lives to carry to strange peoples and to distant 

lands the good news of salvation through 

a crucified and risen Redeemer 



PREFACE 



For many years Prof. William Gammell's "His- 
tory of American Baptist Missions," printed in 
1849, was the standard and the only authority and 
storehouse of information on the subject accessible 
to the public. Professor Gammell had the happi- 
ness to write when the work of American Baptist 
missions was yet limited in the scope and number of 
its fields, and in his volume, issued only a few years 
after the separation of the Northern and Southern 
Baptists in their missionary work, he was able to 
consider the missions as a unit. Both the extent and 
nature of the subject permitted him to treat his topic 
with a minuteness and fullness of development and 
literary finish which have made his volume the ad- 
miration and delight of successive generations of 
Baptists in America. It has never had a successor, 
and in one respect, at least, it can have no successor, 
since the great expansion and enlargement of Bap- 
tist missionary work, as well as the multitude of 
divisions into which it has separated itself in the 
latter half of the nineteenth century, makes it im- 
possible for any historian to treat the subject in the 
elaborate manner possible to Professor Gammell. 
A history of American Baptist missions on the lines 

vii 



Vlll PREFACE 

of his work would extend into so many volumes as 
to be practically beyond the reach of the general 
public, even if the history were taken up at the 
point where he completed his task. It has seemed 
better, therefore, to rewrite the history from the be- 
ginning on a scale which, while comprehensive, must 
necessarily be far less elaborate and more condensed, 
in order to bring the entire work within the com- 
pass of a volume of readable size. 

One of the first impressions of the writer in be- 
ginning his work as editor of the " Baptist Mission- 
ary Magazine," in September, 1880, was the paucity 
of information available to the general public in 
regard to the history of our Baptist foreign missions. 
At that time Professor Gammell's work and a vol- 
ume of " Missionary Sketches," by Samuel F. Smith, 
d. d., and a pictorial illustrated volume entitled 
"Our Gold Mine," by Mrs. Ada C. Chaplin, were 
the only books to which inquirers for information 
in regard to American Baptist foreign missions 
could be directed. The first was out of print and 
so far past the date of publication that it was useful 
only for the history of the earlier stages of the mis- 
sions ; while the special purposes for which the last 
two were prepared, — the first for " The Examiner," 
and the second for the " Baptist Missionary Maga- 
zine," — limited their scope and therefore their useful- 
ness for the purposes of general historical reference. 
Under these circumstances the writer at once ad- 
dressed himself to the task of preparing some ma- 



terial which would quickly supply the increasing 
demand for information in regard to the history of 
our missions. A series of ten pamphlets was begun, 
which, continued as exigencies of regular office and 
editorial work allowed, was finally completed, cov- 
ering the history of the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union in the features of its development at 
home and abroad. 

As arrangements for the preparation of a special 
history of the work of the Missionary Union, by 
Dr. J. N. Murdock, long the corresponding secre- 
tary, came to naught, these ten pamphlets were 
bound together in 1897, in a volume entitled "The 
American Baptist Missionary Union and its Mis- 
sions," to serve for historical reference and reading 
regarding the work of the Union pending the com- 
pletion of that full and elaborate history which the 
importance and absorbing interest of the subject 
suggests and demands. 

Impelled by a desire to supply in some measure 
the same demand, Mrs. Sophie Bronson Titterington, 
daughter of the venerated missionary in Assam, Dr. 
Miles Bronson, prepared an outline sketch entitled, 
"A Century of Baptist Foreign Missions," which 
was issued by the American Baptist Publication 
Society, in 1891, and has done good service, espe- 
cially as a text-book for classes in missionary study, 
for which purpose it was peculiarly designed. Rev. 
J. Winfred Hervey issued in 1892 a work entitled, 
" The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands," 



X PREFACE 

which exhibited a large amount of research, and 
which supplies in a convenient form much material 
on our missionary history obtained from volumes 
which are out of print and have become rare. Mr. 
Hervey is entitled to credit for preserving many 
features of the early Baptist missionary work which 
might otherwise have been lost sight of, but his 
volume makes no pretensions to being an analyzed, 
comprehensive, and complete history of our Baptist 
foreign missions. 

In the preparation of the present volume, the 
writer has not only made use of the before-named 
volumes, but also of many works on peculiar features 
of our missionary history which have been issued, 
especially within the last few years. Among the 
most important of these are, "The Memoir of 
Adoniram Judson," by Francis Wayland, which is 
out of print, the place of which is supplied by " The 
Life of Adoniram Judson," by his son, Edward 
Judson ; " Self Support in Bassein," by Chapin 
Howard Carpenter ; " The Story of a Working 
Man's Life," the autobiography of Francis Mason, 
d. d. ; "A Good Fight," a life of George Dana 
Boardman, by Alonzo King, and other biographies 
of missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary 
Union and of the Southern Baptist Convention, and 
also the two large volumes by Henry A. Tupper, 
D. D., for so many years the corresponding secretary 
of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention, entitled, " The Foreign Missions of 



PEEFACE XI 

the Southern Baptist Convention " and " A Decade 
of Foreign Missions." In these bulky volumes Dr. 
Tupper has gathered a large amount of material for 
the history of Southern Baptist missions and has 
rendered a valuable service to the denomination and 
the religious world. The jubilee volumes of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union and the Amer- 
ican Baptist Home Mission Society have also been 
consulted, as well as "A Story of Six Decades/' 
covering the principal features of the work of the 
American Baptist Publication Society, by Dr. C. R. 
Blackall. Reference to all these and other works 
is made for those who desire more full and detailed 
information in regard to the special features of our 
missionary work than could be given in the present 
volume. But the great treasure house of original 
and exact information to which the writer is chiefly 
indebted is the "Baptist Missionary Magazine," 
which has been and must continue to be the stand- 
ard authority on the special and detailed features of 
the work of Baptist foreign missions in all the years 
since their beginning. 

The suggestion for the preparation of this volume 
in its present form came from the admirable " Dis- 
trict Baptist History Series," prepared under the 
auspices of the American Baptist Publication So- 
ciety. It seemed that so excellent and well-planned 
a series should be completed by a history of Amer- 
ican Baptist missions, embracing the work of Amer- 
ican Baptists outside the limits of the United States, 



Xll PREFACE 

in order that the series may then cover the entire 
work of the Baptists of this country in all its fea- 
tures. The preparation of this volume is not de- 
signed to supersede the volumes on special features 
of missionary work already mentioned, nor those 
volumes of the same character which will hereafter 
appear ; but it is hoped that it may supplement and 
complete the series above referred to and supply a 
book which for the purposes of the general public 
shall be sufficiently adequate on our Baptist mis- 
sionary work in foreign lands. It has been recog- 
nized that, within the limits set for the volume, 
completeness of detail, especially in regard to bi- 
ographical features, could not be attained, but by 
grouping the entire history about the epochs of 
greatest interest and most vital importance the at- 
tempt has been made to supply a history of our 
missions which may be a compendium for general 
use. With the prayer that it may be used by the 
Lord of the harvest for arousing a larger interest in 
the work of the conversion of the world to the Lord 
Jesus the volume is submitted to the kindest consid- 
eration of the Baptists of America. 

E. F. M. 
Boston, August 1, 1900. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 

The Missionary Enterprise xv 

CHAPTER I 

American Baptists in 1812 1 

CHAPTER II 

Formation of the General Missionary Convention 9 

CHAPTER III 

Beginnings in Burma 20 

CHAPTER IV 

To the End of the First Burman War 29 

CHAPTER V 

Growth and Expansion 38 

CHAPTER VI 
The Southern Baptist Convention 53 

CHAPTER VII 

The American Baptist Missionary Union 70 

CHAPTER VIII 
The American Baptist Publication Society .... 81 

CHAPTER IX 
The American Baptist Home Mission Society ... 88 

CHAPTER X 
The American Baptist Free Mission Society ... 91 

CHAPTER XI 
Woman's Baptist Missionary Societies 95 



XIV CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XII 
American Baptist Missions in Burma 102 

CHAPTER XIII 
Baptist Mission Work in Assam 122 

CHAPTER XIV 
Baptist Missions in Southern India 132 

CHAPTER XV 
Baptist Missions in Siam 152 

CHAPTER XVI 

American Baptist Missions in China 159 

CHAPTER XVII 
Baptist Missions in Japan, the Liu Chiu, and the 
Philippine Islands 173 

CHAPTER XVIII 

American Baptist Missions in Africa 182 

CHAPTER XIX 

American Baptist Missions in Europe 191 

CHAPTER XX 

Baptist Missions in South America 203 

CHAPTER XXI 
Baptist Work in Mexico, Cuba, and Porto Rico . 206 

CHAPTER XXII 
Civilization and American Baptist Missions . . . 213 

CHAPTER XXIII 
The Past and the Future 235 

Appendices A, B, C, D 243 

Centennial Supplement 253 



INTRODUCTION 



THE MISSIONAEY ENTERPEISE 

FROM the time the Lord Jesus Christ founded 
the work of Christian missions, there have not 
been wanting in all ages some to carry the glad ti- 
dings of salvation to those who had not heard. The 
first chosen messengers of the gospel were the twelve 
apostles, who might as appropriately have been 
called missionaries, since the two words mean ex- 
actly the same thing, the former being derived from 
the Greek and the latter from the Latin word mean- 
ing " to send." Jesus Christ himself gave the model 
and methods of missionary work in his missionary 
tours in Galilee, where he went about preaching the 
good news of salvation and healing the sick. No 
advance or innovation has ever been able to supple- 
ment the lofty ideals of the mission of Jesus Christ 
himself, which was characterized by that highest of 
all commendations, " He went about doing good." 

After the death of Jesus the disciples were com- 
manded to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be 
endued with power from on high. This power came 
on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit de- 
scended with mighty influence upon the disciples. 



XVI INTRODUCTION 

The command which kept them in Jerusalem then 
expired ; but they still remained, and it was left for 
persecution to furnish the first missionary impulse, 
which scattered the disciples from the capital city 
of Judea to all parts of the then known world, and 
it is said of them that "they went everywhere 
preaching the gospel." 

The Holy Spirit was the first moving agent in 
foreign missions. In Acts 13 : 1-4 we read: "Now 
there were in the church that was at Antioch certain 
prophets and teachers ; as Barnabas, and Simeon that 
was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, 
which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, 
and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and 
fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas 
and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their 
hands on them, they sent them aw r ay. So they, 
being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto 
Seleucia ; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." 

After hands of consecration had been laid upon 
Barnabas and Saul, they went forth to all parts of 
Asia Minor, preaching the gospel and establishing 
churches. As yet, however, the gospel was con- 
fined to Asia Minor. Again the agency of the Holy 
Spirit was necessary for the enlargement of the 
work, and of Paul, when he essayed to go to Bi- 
thynia, we read, " The Spirit suffered him not " ; 
but by a vision a man called him across the sea 
to Europe, to become a missionary to Macedonia. 



INTRODUCTION XV11 

The means for the extension of Christianity were 
apparently as inadequate then as now. Beginning 
with Jesus, the Carpenter of Nazareth, and his disci- 
ples, the humble fishermen of Galilee, the gospel 
was carried into distant regions by men unknown to 
fame, and it was Paul, the prisoner, who became the 
great agent in the expansion of the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ in Asia, Greece, Italy, and perhaps Spain and 
Britain. Of him we learn that his bodily presence 
was weak. But the power of the Holy Spirit was 
with him, and wherever he went churches were es- 
tablished. Through these humble agencies the re- 
ligion of Jesus Christ was extended and the disciples 
mightily multiplied, until Avithin a little more than 
three centuries we find it established on the throne 
of the Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine 
in A. D. 311. 

The places chosen for missionary work are worth 
noting. Beginning at Jerusalem, the second great 
center of Christian labor was Capernaum, the chief 
commercial town in busy, thronging Galilee, on the 
northwest shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, at the 
meeting-place of the chief commercial highways of 
that day from Damascus, Tyre, and Egypt. After 
the death of the Lord the first great center of Chris- 
tian life was established at Antioch, the capital and 
chief city of the East. Here the disciples were first 
called Christians, the name being given as a term of 
reproach, as indicated by the Latin ending, " anus, ' 
denoting inferiority. Next in order came Ephesus, 



XV111 INTRODUCTION 

the greatest port of Asia Minor ; then Corinth, on 
the isthmus of Corinth, and through which, accord- 
ing to the methods of transportation then in vogue, 
a large part of the commerce of the East was 
obliged to pass. Then came Alexandria, the great 
center of commerce and learning in Egypt, and next 
Rome, the capital of the world. After the days of 
the apostles the same great central idea of the propa- 
gation of Christianity prevailed, and the most pow- 
erful centers of life and influence were seized. 
Britain, which God foresaw was to be the ruling 
nation of the world and Rome's successor, was 
one of the earliest Christian mission fields. The 
Goths, a virile stock of Central Europe, soon to be 
mingled with the Angles to form the great Anglo- 
Saxon race, were also among the earliest objects of 
missionary endeavor. In this was recognized the 
great ethnological fact that mixed races have always 
proved stronger than a single stock. For centuries 
the Anglo-Saxon race was the first in the world, and 
according to all the principles of ethnology and im- 
perial development, its power is to be merged in the 
great American race, compounded of all the nations 
of the earth. 

At the time when Christianity became dominant 
in the Roman Empire by the decree of the Emperor 
Constantine, the number of actual Christians was 
small, being estimated at about one in every one 
hundred and fifty of the human race, and though 
Christianity has now attained to the rule of the 



INTRODUCTION XIX 

earth, the number of real Christians is still small. 
Although the population of the earth is increasing j 
arithmetically faster than the converts to Chris- 
tianity, the latter is gaining rapidly in a geometrical 
ratio. From the proportion at the time of Constan- 
tine of one in every one hundred and fifty of the 
population of the world, there is now one nominal 
or real Christian in every four of the people of the 
earth. 

The history of early missions has largely per- 
ished, or is known only by incidental references ; 
but we learn that in the first great ecumenical 
council of Christianity, that at Nicea, in 325, 
among the bishops there were John the Persian, the 
bishop of India, and Theophilus the Goth, from 
Northern Europe ; and that in 535 there were 
Christians in Persia, on the Malabar coast of India, 
in Sokotra, Ceylon, Bactria, as well as in all the 
countries about the Mediterranean Sea, and in Gaul 
and Britain. The Mohammedan conquests swept 
away all Christian churches in Western Asia and 
Northern Africa as by a devouring fire, leaving only 
a remnant in Southern India on the southwest coast, 
at Goa. 

The gospel was sent to Britain and Scotland from 
Rome by unknown messengers before the time of 
Augustine, the representative of the Roman Church. 
From Scotland this primitive type of Christianity 
Avas carried to Ireland by Patricius (Patrick), from 
Ireland back to the Scottish Islands, with head- 



XX INTRODUCTION 

quarters at Iona, by Columba, and the Iona mission- 
aries preached the gospel all over Western and Cen- 
tral Europe. Traces of their labors are visible to the 
present day. The spirit of these missionaries was 
purer than was that of those who came later. Alcuin 
of France " was determined to carry on the publication 
of the divine word according to the example of the 
apostles." Anscar said : " When I was asked whether 
I would go for God's name among the heathen to 
publish the gospel, I could not decline such a call. 
Yes, with all my power I wish to go hence, and no 
man can make me waver in this resolution." No 
missionary of modern times could express himself in 
nobler words or possess a purer missionary conse- 
cration and ideal. 

It was the labors of these men which, when the 
Mohammedan power was overrunning with flame 
and sword all the earlier fields of Christianity in 
Western Asia and Northern Africa, saved Europe 
for Christianity, since they forged the weapons by 
which Charles Martel drove back the Saracens 
from Southern France, in 732, and made possible the 
army of John Sobieski, which hurled back the Turks 
from Vienna in 1683, thus confining the Moham- 
medan conquests to Asia and Africa, with the ex- 
ception of Turkey in Europe and a temporary lease 
of power in Spain. 

In the more distinctive missionary movements of 
Christianity, Francis of Assisi was the first in the 
line of medieval Roman Catholic missionaries. It 



INTRODUCTION XXI 

was his aim to establish colleges for the training of 
Christian missionaries in connection with every 
large Christian university. From his labors sprang 
the order of the Franciscans, by which monks were 
transformed into missionaries. Raymund Lull was 
filled with the spirit which later animated William 
Carey and Adoniram Judson, and only lacked a 
sympathetic and sustaining church to found the era 
of modern missions. He gave his life to simple 
gospel labors among the Mohammedans, and died 
a martyr to missions on the voyage to his home. 
Francis Xavier, the Jesuit, had more of the military 
than the purely missionary spirit, but in his efforts 
to establish the standard of the church in India, in 
the East Indies, in China, and in far Japan, he ex- 
hibited a devotion to his ideal worthy of all praise 
and imitation. 

Of the purer missionary movements preceding 
the Reformation, John Wycliffe, of England, in- 
spired the Lollards, who were itinerating mission- 
aries to all parts of central and western Europe, 
and was the predecessor of John Huss and Jerome 
of Prague, who were the real pioneers of the Mo- 
ravians. Of the leaders of the Reformation, 
neither Luther nor Melanchthon were foreign mis- 
sionary in spirit, being wholly engaged in theologi- 
cal disputations and the founding of the Faith of 
the Protestant church upon correct principles ; but 
Erasmus wrote a treatise on " The Art of Preach - 
ing," which was as distinctly missionary in charac- 



XX11 INTRODUCTION 

ter as the later "Inquiry" of William Carey. 
From this time the missionary impulse of the 
Christian churches began to develop more strongly. 
In the seventeenth century began the era of 
Christian missions under the auspices of temporal 
authorities. The Dutch sent missionaries to their 
East India possessions. Peter Heyling went to 
Abyssinia in 1632 and translated the New Testa- 
ment. In 1664 Baron von Welz published a pam- 
phlet entitled " Invitation for a Society of Jesus to 
Promote Christianity and the Conversion of Hea- 
thendom." Leaving his title and the ease and com- 
forts of home, he went to Dutch Guiana, where he 
died a martyr to his missionary enthusiasm. No- 
vember 29, 1705, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg sailed 
for India, and about forty years later, Christian 
Frederick Schwarz, both under the auspices of the 
Danish Government, but with the object of spread- 
ing the knowledge of Christian truth among the 
people of Hindustan. In the same general line, 
Christian chaplains and missionaries were sent out 
by various governments to their colonial possessions 
in the East and West for the spread of the truth. 
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was 
founded in England in 1701, but was limited to the 
sending out of chaplains, some of whom began the 
work of Christian missions in the New World. The 
colonial possessions of England only became in- 
spired by the distinctively modern missionary spirit 
after the formation of the first missionary societies, 



INTRODUCTION XX111 

at the close of the eighteenth century. In 1721 
the Danish Missionary Society was founded, and la- 
bored much on the same lines. The Moravian 
Church began, in 1732, the first missions to the 
heathen under the auspices of the Christian 
churches as separated from the State authorities, but 
they were still maintained from the ordinary reve- 
nues of the church. Missionaries went to the West 
Indies, Greenland, and, later, to Africa and other 
parts of the world. All these movements were 
leading up to the inauguration of the era of modern 
missions, the distinctive characteristic of which is 
the voluntary organization and co-operation of Chris- 
tians for the sending forth and support of mission- 
aries to heathen lands. 

It was in 1792 that a small company of Baptist 
ministers assembled in a private house at Kettering, 
England, and organized the Baptist Missionary 
Society, the pioneer of all modern missionary socie- 
ties sustained on the principle of voluntary contri- 
butions. The celebrated thirteen pounds, two shil- 
lings, and six pence then subscribed was the fore- 
runner of the millions now contributed every year 
to missionary societies for the purpose of sending 
forth missionaries to all parts of the world. The 
first missionaries of this society were William Carey 
and John Thomas, M. d., who sailed June 13, 1793, 
for India. It is noteworthy that the first mission- 
aries to go forth under the auspices of the first mod- 
ern missionary society represented both the evangel- 



XXIV INTRODUCTION 

istic and medical branches of missionary work. In 
1795 was formed the London Missionary Society, 
sustained by the Independents and other Noncon- 
formists of England, and the first missionaries were 
sent forth to Tahiti and the Society Islands of the 
South Seas. The Established Church of England 
followed in 1799 by the establishment of the Church 
Missionary Society for Africa and the East. Its 
purposes are indicated in its title, and the first mis- 
sionaries were sent to the west coast of Africa in 
1804, a mission at Sierra Leone being established 
in 1816 and the mission in the ports about the 
Mediterranean Sea in 1815. 

It is both surprising and significant to find that 
the next step in the forward march of the mission- 
ary enterprise was taken in the new world, across 
the Atlantic, by the organization in 1810 of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions, then supported by the Congregationalist 
and Presbyterian Churches of the United States. 
The first party of missionaries sent out by this so- 
ciety established the Marathi mission in India, 
from which has sprung the Madura mission and all 
the work in India under this Board. Of the first 
party sent out under this Board, three changed 
their denominational views soon after their arrival 
in India ; Luther Rice returned to America to 
inform the Baptists that they had missionaries in 
India while as yet they had no missionary society ; 
while Adoniram Judson, and his wife, Ann Hassel- 



INTRODUCTION XXV 

tine, after being tossed about between India and 
Mauritius, fled at last for refuge to the savage and 
heathen kingdom of Burma. They landed July 
13, 1813, thus founding the first Christian mission 
in Asia in an entirely heathen country and wholly 
under the power of a heathen government. From 
this movement sprang the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union, formed in 1814. In the same year 
the growing missionary spirit in England manifested 
itself in the formation of the Wesleyan Missionary 
Society, which at once interested itself in the Wes- 
leyan work in the West Indies, which had been 
conducted independently for about twenty-five years, 
and which soon established an independent mission 
in South Africa. 

The next aggressive missionary society to be es- 
tablished was again in the new world, being the 
Methodist Missionary Society of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, formed in 1819, which began its prep- 
arations for opening a mission in Liberia, in West 
Africa. In 1820, on the continent of Europe, the 
Basle Evangelical Missionary Society was consti- 
tuted, an outgrowth of a movement started in 1815, 
and in 1819 the Leipsic Evangelical Lutheran Mis- 
sionary Society was begun. Both of these societies, 
however, confined themselves for a number of years 
to the training of missionaries for other societies, 
and it was not until 1824 that the Basle Society 
established its first mission in Persia. From these 
nine missionary societies have sprung all the later 



XXVI INTRODUCTION 

missionary organizations and movements. The 
Scottish churches separated from the London Mis- 
sionary Society and organized a society of their own 
in 1829. By similar processes of division and 
branching all the more than five hundred missions 
and missionary societies existing at the close of the 
nineteenth century have sprung into being. 

It is significant also to note that the fields selected 
by these earlier societies have supplied the founda- 
tion for the spread of Christian missions into all 
parts of the world. The earlier missions in India 
extended to the limits of the widely extended 
British Empire in India, to the Indo-Chinese Pen- 
insula, and to China and other parts of the East. 
Early missions in the South Seas have spread until 
now, out of the multitude of islands which dot the 
Pacific and Indian Oceans, there are but few which 
have not been reached by the gospel ; while Africa, 
its interior long closed to the efforts of Christian 
missionaries by natural disadvantages and the sav- 
age nature of its people, has in later years opened 
for the advance of the Christian hosts who had 
planted themselves at numerous stations on the east, 
west, and south coasts. 

Of all the Avidely extended work in the enter- 
prise of Christian missions six chief successes, some- 
times called " miracles of missions," may be noted : 
the work of the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions, by which the Sandwich Islands, 
known better as Hawaii, have been transformed 



INTRODUCTION XXVU 

from a savage territory to a civilized community, 
now a Territory of the United States of America. 
Entirely similar, and worthy to be compared with 
this, is the work of the Wesleyan Missionary So- 
ciety in the Fiji Islands, by which a people given to 
cruelty and cannibalism of the worst sort has been 
transformed into a Christian community, with a 
larger proportion of the people attending the church 
services on the Sabbath than may be found in any 
other part of the world. With this may be ranked 
the work of the London Missionary Society in the 
Society and other South Sea Islands, where life and 
property are safe, and the necessity of police for 
protection is reduced to a minimum, and a friendly 
relationship is established, not only among the peo- 
ple themselves, but toward all foreign visitors to 
these beautiful gems of the Pacific Ocean. In Asia 
there are also three great triumphs of Christian 
missions to be noted : that of the American Baptist 
Missionary Union in the Karen mission in Burma, 
whereof five hundred churches four hundred and fifty 
are wholly self-supporting, and all other branches 
of Christian development and education have attained 
a high state of advancement. The Karen Baptist 
mission in Burma has been the chief example of self- 
support, self-dependence, and self-propagation among 
Christian missions in the world for many years. 
Another great success in Christian missionary work 
is that of the Church Missionary Society of England, 
among the Tamil people of South India, where many 



XXV111 INTRODUCTION 

thousands have been gathered into the churches and 
every element of Christian life is in an encouraging 
state of growth and development. The third great 
miracle of modern missions in Asia is that of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union among the 
Telugus of southeastern India. Here a mission 
maintained for many years amid the most discour- 
aging circumstances has within twenty years sprung 
to the front rank of Christian missions in numbers 
and influence. A larger number of the Telugus are 
now converts to the Christian faith than of any other 
people known as heathen. There are more than 
fifty-five thousand members of Baptist churches 
among this people, and the great prosperity of the 
mission to the Telugus has become a model in 
missionary methods in India. The earlier missions 
devoted themselves largely to education, but the 
great success of the purely evangelistic methods in 
vogue in the Telugu Baptist mission has so revolu- 
tionized missionary sentiment in India that there is 
not a mission of any name within the bounds of 
British India which has not felt its influence. While 
education and other missionary methods are not 
neglected, especially in the development of the 
Christian church, the main reliance for the progress 
of the truth is becoming more and more the verbal 
proclamation of the gospel, especially by converts 
from the people speaking to their own tribes in their 
own tongues. 

From the simple beginnings of missionary work 



INTRODUCTION XXIX 

in Judea and Galilee by Jesus Christ and his hum- 
ble associates, the enterprise of Christian missions 
has gone forward until all the leading nations of the 
world have become Christian in name if not in fact. 
All laws and procedures of courts, as well as the 
conduct of public affairs in all important nations of 
the earth, are founded upon the Bible. Aside from 
the millions of Christians in lands not known as 
missionary, the summary of the statistics of foreign 
missions throughout the world, prepared by James 
Dennis, d. d., for the Ecumenical Missionary Con- 
ference, held in the city of New York, in April, 
1900, gives the figures as they appear below. 1 . 
When considered with a view to the vast and man- 
ifold agencies represented in these summaries and 
the widely extended work which they embrace, these 
figures suggest encouragement to every lover of the 
expansion of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Missionaries, 13,607 ; native missionary helpers of all classes, 
73,615; principal stations, 5,233, with 25,586 outstations; 10,993 
churches, with 1,289,298 communicants and 83,895 additions in 
1899. The Sunday-schools in foreign mission fields number 14,- 
9-10, with a membership of 764,684, and there was an estimated 
Christian population of 4,327,283, from winch were received con- 
tributions for Christian work amounting to §1,833,981. 



A HISTORY 

OF 

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 



CHAPTER I 

AMEEICAN BAPTISTS IN 1812 

THE greatness of the achievements of any peo- 
ple is determined by the difficulties under 
which they were wrought and the effects which they 
produced. Judged by these standards the mis- 
sionary work of American Baptists holds a high 
place among those forces which have operated for 
the advancement of the human race in civilization 
and in religion. The beginning of the missions oc- 
curred at a time in the history of the nation ap- 
parently the most unpropitious for the founding of 
an enterprise involving large foreign expenditures 
with no prospect of domestic advantage. The 
country was engaged in a second war with Eng- 
land. At the close of the war of the Revolu- 
tion the independence of the United States had 
been recognized, but neither equality of rights nor 
freedom of action had been secured. The mother 

l 



2 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

country still claimed and exercised the right of 
search of American vessels, the control of Amer- 
ican commerce, and excluded her former colonies 
from many of the privileges usually accorded to an 
independent nation. Exasperated beyond endur- 
ance by the humiliations and wrongs imposed by 
this attitude of England, the young and still feeble 
country had resolved in desperation to again sub- 
mit her cause to the dread arbitration of war rather 
than endure longer the deprivation of those rights 
and privileges which belonged to her. 

Under these circumstances communication with 
foreign countries had become difficult and uncer- 
tain, and there was every reason to believe that the 
entire resources of the people would be needed at 
home. The commerce of New England, which had 
become prosperous, was in danger of entire destruc- 
tion. Even the integrity of the new republic was 
seriously threatened. Several of the States were 
still acting under their original charters from the 
kings of England, and the sense of nationality was 
as yet weak. The separate States viewed with 
jealousy any attempt of Congress to legislate in 
matters which involved that supreme authority 
which the States claimed for themselves. But more 
than all, the perils of the commerce of New Eng- 
land menaced the unity of the nation. Massachu- 
setts, which had been the foremost in spirit and in 
arms in beginning the war of the Eevolution, 
viewed with alarm the loss of her foreign trade. 



AMERICAN BAPTISTS IN 1812 3 

While, therefore, the rest of the country was hot 
with resentment against the arrogant assumptions of 
England, in New England the love of gain smoth- 
ered for a time the fires of patriotism. The intense 
feeling which culminated in the famous "Hartford 
Convention " augured ill for the harmony and en- 
thusiasm of the people and the success of the 
weaker nation in its resistance to the aggressions of 
a vastly superior power. 

Neither was the condition of the people in 
the United States such as to encourage extensive 
plans of benevolence for the benefit of outside na- 
tions. Almost every existing branch of industry 
was in a formative state, and many lines of mining, 
manufacture, and trade which were to contribute so 
largely to the enormous future development of the 
country, had not been started or even projected. 
Internal communication was generally slow, diffi- 
cult, and expensive. A striking illustration of the 
condition of the country in 1812, is the fact that at 
that time the "Baptist Missionary Magazine" was 
compelled to decline subscriptions from the South 
since the mail service was so imperfect that copies 
could not be delivered with certainty and regu- 
larity. Processes of manufacture were rude, and 
profitable lines of business were few. Up to 1830 
only three men in the whole country were reckoned 
as millionaires, John Jacob Astor, of New York, 
Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, and William Gray ? 
of Boston, and the distance which separated these 



4 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

men of fortune from the general condition of the 
people was greater than is known at the present 
time. As a whole, the people were poor, and with- 
out the resources or the opportunities of financial 
accumulation which exist in more modern life. 

Among the people of the United States in 1812 
the Baptists occupied a humble position. The so- 
cial prestige of founders of the State enjoyed by the 
Congregational ists in Massachusetts, by the Dutch 
churches in New York, by the Friends in Penn- 
sylvania, and by the Episcopalians in Virginia, be- 
longed to Baptists only in the small State of Rhode 
Island ; and even here they were torn by divisions 
on minor points, remnants of which remain to the 
present day. Their homes were bare of most of 
the comforts of modern life. The large living 
room, dining room, and kitchen, all in one, with 
unplastered walls, contained only plain furnishings 
of strong but simple make. Stoves were rare and 
the great fireplaces, liberally fed with wood, cooked 
the food and supplied the heat which had the pecu- 
liar and unpleasant quality of warming only one 
side at a time. In the sombre and seldom used 
" front room " of the better class of homes might 
be found a stiff and straight-backed sofa, uphol- 
stered in black haircloth, the only sign of luxury, 
unless the great four-post canopied bedsteads, with 
their mountains of monster feather beds, the pride 
of the housekeeper's heart, be excepted. These, 
however, were reserved for " company " and the 



AMERICAN BAPTISTS TEST 1812 5 

more mature members of the family, while the boys 
and girls were assigned to the attics, guiltless of 
heating arrangements even in the coldest weather. 
Many a crack furnished a whistle for the roaring 
winds of winter and admitted the drifting snow to 
test the courage and endurance of the hardy inmates. 

The churches of these people, like their homes, 
were bare of comforts, with straight-backed pews 
and narrow, uncushioned seats. No heat was pro- 
vided except that Avhich the worshipers carried in 
their own sturdy physique and warm hearts, or in 
the case of the elderly matrons, individual foot- 
warmers, fed with coals from the fires at home. 
Multitudes of the churches of our fathers lacked 
even a house in which to worship God, and they 
held their meetings in schoolhouses or in the homes 
of the people. Many of the powerful movements 
which characterized the early history of Baptists in 
this country and which were the foundations of the 
present great prosperity, began and were carried on 
to the glory of God without houses of worship, in- 
quiry rooms, an organ, or other accompaniments 
considered necessary to the success of a modern re- 
vival. 

Nevertheless, amid these apparently rigorous con- 
ditions the Baptists thrived and grew. In this 
year of 1812 they numbered in the States which 
then formed the Union, two thousand four hundred 
and seventeen churches, one thousand nine hundred 
and sixteen ministers, and one hundred and eighty- 



6 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

eight thousand two hundred and fifteen members; 
and Benedict, the Baptist historian, after extensive 
travel among them, writes that " the Baptists are 
scattered in every part of the United States. Scarce- 
ly a mountain or valley in which they are not to 
be found." He estimated them to form one-nTth 
of the population of the whole country. They were 
scattered, however, and also divided. The Baptist 
churches of different sections of the country had 
little communication with each other. Few com- 
mon bonds of interest existed, and no general or- 
ganization for any purpose whatever. The Phila- 
delphia Association had been definitely organized as 
early as 1707, followed by the Charleston Associa- 
tion in 1751, the Sandy Creek Association, of North 
Carolina, in 1758, and others in the South still 
later. The Warren Association of churches in 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts was formed in 
1767, and four Associations in Vermont before 
1796, but it was not until 1812 that the Boston 
Association, later divided into four, was established. 
The formation of the English Baptist Missionary 
Society in Kettering, England, in 1792, and the 
early movements, trials, and successes of the Eng- 
lish Baptist mission in India, were viewed with deep 
interest by many Baptists in this country, and did 
much to arouse a missionary spirit among them. 
Several Baptist ministers of this country, notably 
Rev. John Williams, of New York, and Rev. 
Thomas Baldwin, of Boston, maintained a regular 



AMERICAN BAPTISTS IN 1812 7 

correspondence with William Carey and his asso- 
ciates of Serampore, and contributions for the Ser- 
ampore mission were sent from the Baptists of the 
United States to the missionary society in London, 
amounting in one year to as much as six thousand 
dollars. The first crystallization of the missionary 
spirit was in the organization of the Massachusetts 
Baptist Missionary Society, which held its first 
meeting in Boston, May 26, 1802. The object of 
this pioneer Baptist missionary society of America 
was stated to be, a To furnish occasional preaching 
and to promote a knowledge of evangelistic truth 
in the new settlements within these United States, or 
farther, if circumstances should render it proper." 
This society immediately began the publication 
of the "Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Mag- 
azine," the first number being issued in Septem- 
ber, 1803. In 1817 the name of this oldest of 
American Baptist periodicals was changed to the 
" American Baptist Magazine," and again, in 1836, 
to the " Baptist Missionary Magazine," under which 
title it still continues. Letters from William Carey, 
and other missionaries in India, frequently appeared 
in this magazine, which became the chief instru- 
ment in fostering the rising enthusiasm for missions 
among American Baptists. This zeal for the ex- 
tension of the kingdom of the Redeemer found ex- 
pression in a rapid succession of missionary societies 
organized in various parts of the country. A Bap- 
tist Youths' Missionary Society, formed in the city 



8 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

of New York, July 23, 1806, was the first Baptist 
young people's society of America. The Female 
Mite Society, started in Providence, R. I., in 1808, 
was the pioneer woman's Baptist missionary so- 
ciety. Other organizations of a character similar 
to these three pioneer societies quickly followed. 
At the meeting of the New York Baptist Associa- 
tion, in 1806, a missionary society was established, 
and in 1808 this society united with that in Massa- 
chusetts in the support of a mission to the Tusca- 
rora Indians. The Philadelphia Baptist Mission- 
ary Society was also formed in 1806, and missions 
were started by various Baptist Associations in 
South Carolina and Georgia without the formation 
of special societies. The first strictly foreign mis- 
sionary society of American Baptists was the Salem 
Bible Translation and Foreign Missionary Society, 
organized at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1812, for the 
purpose of aiding in the translation of the Bible 
then being made at Serampore, India, by William 
Carey and his companions, or, " if deemed feasible, 
to assist in sending a missionary or missionaries 
from this country to India." 



CHAPTER II 

FORMATION OF THE GENERAL MISSIONARY CON- 
VENTION 

SUCH were the people and such their condition 
when the call came for American Baptists to 
arise and enter independently into the work of 
preaching the gospel in distant lands and to un- 
known peoples. But if the circumstances of the 
people were unpromising, the nature of the call was 
so singular and so significant with divine meaning 
that it roused the scattered and separated Baptists 
of America as the trumpet peal of the archangel 
calling the dead to life. 

In 1810 the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions had been formed in Boston, in 
response to the demand of a few students in An- 
dover Theological Seminary that they be sent on a 
mission to the heathen. It was the first independ- 
ent American movement in foreign missions. After 
a preliminary, but providentially unsuccessful, at- 
tempt to become auxiliary to the London Missionary 
Society, nine missionaries had sailed from America 
for India, in the month of February, 1812, under the 
auspices of the American Board, to inaugurate the 
enterprise of American foreign missions. Adoniram 

9 



10 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Judson and Ann Hasseltine, his wife, and Samuel 
Newell and Harriet, his wife, sailed from Salem, 
Mass., on the nineteenth, while on the twenty-fourth 
Gordon Hall and Samuel Nott, with their wives, and 
Luther Rice, sailed from Philadelphia. The facil- 
ities for rapid transit known to more modern times 
were lacking, and the long voyage of four to six 
months to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope 
afforded ample time for study and serious reflection 
upon the new and daring enterprise on which they 
had entered. The thoughts of two of the young 
men turned in the same direction. Judson on the 
" Caravan," and Rice on the " Harmony," remem- 
bered that they would be called upon to lead the 
converts, whom by the favor of God they hoped to 
win, into knowledge of the principles of Christianity, 
and if churches should be gathered, to see that they 
were established on correct foundations. They ac- 
cordingly addressed themselves to more careful study 
of the true source of knowledge in these matters, the 
word of God. 

It is related of Judson, that during his course of 
study at Andover Theological Seminary, in a dis- 
cussion concerning baptism, the professor had ap- 
pointed him to present the views of the Baptists. He 
entered into the discussion with such zeal for victory 
that he convinced himself of the truth of the Baptist 
position. But the astute professor immediately as- 
signed to him the duty of answering his own argu- 
ments, and his intense and ardent nature engaged 



FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 11 

in the task with such enthusiasm that he speedily 
reconverted himself to Pedobaptist views. Appar- 
ently, however, this experience had left an impres- 
sion on his mind, and soon after reaching Calcutta, 
Judson, not now in polemic controversy, but as a re- 
sult of sincere study of the New Testament, adopted 
fully the views of Baptists as to the church and its 
ordinances. Mrs. Judson, at first greatly distressed 
[at the change in her husband's views, soon as a re- 
sult of her independent studies, became one with her 
husband in this matter, and they were baptized in 
Calcutta by Rev. William Ward, September 6, 1812. 
Later their hearts were cheered and strengthened by 
learning that Luther Rice, pursuing the same studies 
on the other vessel, had also become a Baptist. Mr. 
Rice was baptized in Calcutta, November 1, 1812. 

Baptists engaged in the missions of other bodies 
are not now unknown, but in the state of denomina- 
tional feeling existing in America in 1812 such a 
thing was impossible. Mr. Judson therefore wrote 
at once to the American Board resigning his connec- 
tion, and at the same time to Thomas Baldwin, d. d., 
pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Boston, in- 
quiring if the Baptists of America would form a 
society for foreign missions, and offering himself as 
its first missionary. It was also arranged that Mr. 
Rice should return to America to interest the Bap- 
tists in the new Baptist missionaries in India. On 
the receipt of Mr. Judson's letter to Doctor BaldAvin, 
in the spring of 1813, a society was at once formed 



12 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

in his home in Boston called, " The Baptist Society 
for Propagating the Gospel in India and other For- 
eign Parts/' which assumed the support of Mr. and 
Mrs. Judson. Under the influence of Mr. Rice's 
stirring appeals the Baptist Missionary Society of 
Virginia was formed at Richmond, October 28, 
1813. A similar society was formed in Philadel- 
phia, December 1, and the Savannah Baptist So- 
ciety for Foreign Missions was organized December 
17, 1813. The Baptist Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety of New York was formed February 21, 1814, 
another in Baltimore at about the same time, and 
others in various parts of the country in rapid suc- 
cession. 

In 1814 the principal centers of Baptist influence 
in America were in Boston, in Rhode Island, in 
Philadelphia, and Virginia, South Carolina, and 
Georgia, but until the rise of the foreign mission 
movement they had no common bond of interest. 
In all these centers, except at Rhode Island, the 
Baptists were overshadowed by other bodies which 
antedated them in time and exceeded them in num- 
bers. There was no general Baptist society, but one 
Baptist educational institution, now Brown Univer- 
sity, and no Baptist periodicals except the " Baptist 
Missionary Magazine," already mentioned, which 
was coming to have a wide circulation. It is a 
striking fact that the influence which called the 
Baptists of America from their lowly, unorganized 
condition, united and consolidated their strength, 



FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 13 

encouraged them to more vigorous efforts at home 
as well as abroad, and started them on the career 
which has given them power and standing among 
the foremost religious denominations of America, 
was the call to engage in foreign missions. 

The first suggestion for a general movement ap- 
pears to have been made at the meeting of the 
Philadelphia Baptist Association, in 1813, when it 
was decided to form a foreign missionary society, 
and a general meeting of delegates from all Baptist 
missionary societies was suggested for the purpose 
of forming a general committee. As a result of this 
suggestion there assembled in Philadelphia in the 
following May the most representative and the most 
notable gathering of the Baptists of America which 
up to that time had ever been brought together. 

The meeting was composed of twenty-six clergy- 
men and seven laymen, from eleven different States 
and from the District of Columbia, most of whom 
now for the first time looked upon each other's faces. 
Their names were : Thomas Baldwin, d. d., Rev. 
Lucius Bolles, A. m., of Massachusetts ; Rev. Stephen 
Gano, A. m., of Rhode Island ; Rev. John Williams, 
Mr. Thomas Hewitt, Mr. Edward Probyn, Mr. Na- 
thanael Smith, of New York ; Burgiss Allison, d. d., 
Rev. Richard Proudfoot, Rev. Josiah Stratton, Rev. 
William Boswell, Rev. Henry Smalley, a. m., Mr. 
Mathew Randall, Mr. John Sisty, Mr. Stephen Us- 
tick, of New Jersey ; William Rogers, d. d., Henry 
Holcombe, d. d., William Staughton, d. c, Rev. 



14 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

William White, a. m., Rev. John P. Peckworth, Rev. 
Horatio G. Jones, Rev. Silas Hough, Rev. Joseph 
Mathias, of Pennsylvania ; Rev. Daniel Dodge, of 
Delaware ; Rev. Lewis Richards, Rev. Thomas 
Brooke, of Maryland ; Rev. Luther Rice, A. M., Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; Rev. Robert B. Semple, Rev. 
Jacob Grigg, of Virginia ; Rev. James A. Ranald- 
son, of North Carolina ; Richard Furman, D. D., 
Hon. Mathias B. Tallmadge, of South Carolina ; 
and Rev. W. B. Johnson, of Georgia. 

Rev. Dr. Furman, of South Carolina, was chosen 
president, and Rev. Dr. Baldwin, of Massachusetts, 
secretary, and the following constitution was finally 
adopted, after full discussion : 

We, the delegates from missionary societies and other 
religious bodies of the Baptist denomination, in various 
parts of the United States, met in convention, in the city 
of Philadelphia, for the purpose of carrying into effect 
the benevolent intentions of our constituents by organ- 
izing a plan for eliciting, combining, and directing the 
energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort 
for sending the glad tidings of salvation to the heathen 
and to nations destitute of pure gospel light, do agree to 
the following rules as fundamental principles, viz : 

1. That this body shall be styled "The General Mis- 
sionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the 
United States of America for Foreign Missions." 

2. That a triennial convention shall, hereafter, be 
held, consisting of delegates, not exceeding two in num- 
ber, from each of the several missionary societies, and 
other religious bodies of the Baptist denomination, now 
existing, or which may hereafter be formed in the 



FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 15 

United States, and which shall each regularly contribute 
to the general missionary fund a sura amounting at 
least to one hundred dollars per annum. 

3. That for the necessary transaction and dispatch of 
business, during the recess of said Convention, there 
shall be a Board of twenty-one commissioners, who shall 
be members of the said societies, churches, or other re- 
ligious bodies aforesaid, triennially appointed by the said 
Convention, by ballot, to be called the "Baptist Board 
of Foreign Missions for the United States," seven of 
whom shall be a quorum for the transaction of all busi- 
ness, and which Board shall continue in office until suc- 
cessors be duly appointed, and shall have power to make 
and adopt by-laws for the government of the said Board, 
and for the furtherance of the general objects of the in- 
stitution. 

4. That it shall be the duty of this Board to employ 
missionaries, and, if necessary, to take measures for the 
improvement of their qualifications ; to fix on the field 
of their labors, and the compensation to be allowed 
them for their services ; to superintend their conduct, 
and dismiss them, should their services be disapproved ; 
to publish accounts, from time to time, of the Board's 
transactions, and an annual address to the public ; to 
call a special meeting of the Convention on any extraor- 
dinary occasion, and, in general, to conduct the execu- 
tive part of the missionary concern. 

5. That such persons only as are in full communion with 
some regular church of our denomination, and who fur- 
nish satisfactory evidence of genuine piety, good talents, 
and fervent zeal for the Redeemer's cause, are to be em- 
ployed as missionaries. 

6. That the Board shall choose, by ballot, one presi- 
dent, two vice-presidents, a treasurer, a corresponding 
and a recording secretary. 



10 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

7. That the president, or in case of his absence or dis- 
ability, the senior vice-president present, shall preside 
in all meetings of the Board, and when application 
shall be made in writing by any two of its members, 
shall call a special meeting of the Board, giving due 
notice thereof. 

8. That the treasurer shall receive and faithfully ac- 
count for all the moneys paid into the treasury, keep a 
regular account of receipts and disbursements, make a 
report thereof to the said Convention, whenever it shall 
be in session, and to the Board of Missions annually, and 
as often as by them required. He shall also, before he 
enters on the duties of his office, give competent secu- 
rity, to be approved by the Board, for the stock and 
funds that may be committed to his care. 

9. That the corresponding secretary shall maintain 
intercourse by letter with such individuals, societies, or 
public bodies, as the interests of the institution may re- 
quire. Copies of all the communications made by the 
particular direction of the Convention or Board shall be 
by him handed to the recording secretary, for record and 
safe keeping. 

10. That the recording secretary shall, ex-officio, be 
the secretary of the Convention, unless some other be by 
them appointed in his stead. He shall attend all the 
meetings of the Board, and keep a fair record of all 
their proceedings, and of the transactions of the Con- 
vention. 

11. That in case of the death, resignation, or disability 
of any of its officers or members, the Board shall have 
power to fill such vacancy. 

12. That the said Convention shall have power, and 
in the interval of their meeting, the Board of Commis- 
sioners, on the recommendation of any one of the con- 
stituent bodies belonging to the Convention, shall also 



FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 17 

have power, to elect honorary members of piety and dis- 
tinguished liberality, who, on their election, shall be en- 
titled to a seat, and to take part in the debates of the 
Convention ; but it shall be understood that the right of 
voting shall be confined to the delegates. 

13. That in case any of the constituent bodies shall be 
unable to send representatives to the said Convention, 
they shall be permitted to vote by proxy, which proxy 
shall be appointed by writing. 

14. That any alterations which experience may dic- 
tate from time to time, may be made in these articles at 
the regular meeting of the Convention, by two-thirds of 
the members present. 

At the meeting of the Board immediately after 
the adjournment of the Convention, Mr. and Mrs. 
Judson were appointed its first missionaries, and the 
Board 'pledged itself to their support in mission 
work in India. Luther Rice was also appointed a 
missionary, but instructed to continue his services 
in arousing the churches of this country to greater 
interest in the work of foreign missions. William 
Staughton, D. D., of Philadelphia, was appointed the 
first corresponding secretary of the Board, the head- 
quarters of which were to be in Philadelphia, and 
Mr. John Cauldwell, of New York, was named as 
the first treasurer. As communication between dif- 
ferent parts of the country was slow and difficult, it 
was arranged that the Convention should meet only 
once in three years, whence arose the common name 
by which the Society was known in its earlier years, 
" The Triennial Convention." 



18 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Thus was inaugurated the movement which made 
the scattered and separate Baptists of America a de- 
nomination. The feeling among them regarding this 
Convention is indicated by the words of the editor of 
the " Baptist Missionary Magazine," in introducing 
his account of the meeting in Philadelphia : 

Perhaps no event has ever taken place among the 
Baptist denomination in America, which has excited 
more lively interest than the late missionary Convention 
held in the city of Philadelphia. It was indeed a sight 
no less novel than interesting, to behold brethren who 
had hitherto been unknown to each other by face, col- 
lecting from North to South, from nearly all the States 
from Massachusetts to Georgia (a distance of more than 
one thousand miles), for the important purpose of form- 
ing a General Convention, in order to concentrate the en- 
ergies and direct the efforts of the whole denomination 
throughout the United States in sending the gospel to 
the heathen. 

This high resolve of the Baptists of this country 
to engage in the enterprise of foreign missions was 
further exalted by the condition of the country at 
that time. War with England was still dragging on 
its tedious and exhausting course. Although many 
splendid victories had been won by the navy of the 
Americans on the sea and on the great lakes, the 
British were far from embarrassed by their reverses 
and the army of the United States had made little 
headway against the land force of the enemy. By 
her conflict with Napoleon, England had been for a 
time hampered in the prosecution of the war with 



FORMATION OF GENERAL CONVENTION 19 

America ; but the victories of Wellington made it 
evident that his forces would soon be released, as 
they were, and Great Britain be able to turn her full 
energies upon the struggling American republic. 
Although the Embargo Act was repealed in April, 
1814, the peace party in New England continued 
vigorous and aggressive. By demanding payment 
of every note of the banks in the Middle and 
Southern States, and by introducing English bills 
in large quantities and at low rates, these portions 
of the country were drained of their financial re- 
sources, while British fleets harassed the Southern 
coasts and showed the disposition of the enemy to 
prosecute the war with increasing and relentless 
vigor. 

Undaunted by these unpropitious circumstances 
American Baptists launched the bark of their for- 
eign mission enterprise with cheerful courage, trust- 
ing the Lord, who had led them into the task by 
such a signal exhibition of his providence, to prosper 
and bless the work in behalf of the kingdom of his 
Son. 



CHAPTER III 

BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 

TIDINGS of the action of American Baptists for 
their support did not reach the lonely mission- 
aries in India until more than a year after the for- 
mation of the missionary Convention. Driven from 
Calcutta by the hostility of the English East India 
Company, the Judsons fled to the Isle of France 
(Mauritius) ; then, determined not to abandon India, 
they went back to Madras. At last, in instant fear 
of being forcibly returned to England, they em- 
barked on an unseaworthy brig, the " Georgiana," 
which bore them, amid many perils, to Rangoon, 
in the then native empire of Burma, where they 
landed July 13, 1813, almost the only white per- 
sons among that savage and barbarous people. 
Here, for more than two years, in loneliness and 
peril, they lived and labored without companions of 
their own race. On September 5, 1815, however, 
came the joyful news that American Baptists had 
rallied to their support and a fully organized mis- 
sionary convention had adopted them as its mission- 
aries and had pledged the funds needed for the con- 
tinuance of the work upon which they had entered 
at so much personal sacrifice and peril. 

20 



BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 21 

On their arrival at Rangoon, the Judsons found 
a house occupied by the wife of Felix Carey, who 
was partly of native blood, and here they made 
their first home in Burma. This eldest son of 
William Carey was one of the company sent to 
Burma by his father in an attempt to establish a 
mission in that country. At the time of the arrival 
of the Judsons, the English mission had been prac- 
tically abandoned, as Carey, the only remaining 
missionary, had entered the service of the Burman 
government, in which he remained. This is the 
son of whom his eminent and devoted father wrote 
to Doctor Ryland, "Felix is shriveled from a mis- 
sionary to an ambassador." In the interval be- 
tween their arrival in Burma and the opening of 
communication with the American Baptist Conven- 
tion, the Judsons were sustained by the Baptist 
mission at Serampore, which made monthly grants 
for their support, and they were recognized for a 
time as members of the English Baptist mission. 

In 1813, Burma furnished a typical example of 
savage and cruel Oriental governments and peoples. 
The will of the king was the only and the absolute 
law. Every officer was a despot in his sphere and 
the slave of his superiors. The people, in person 
and property, were subject to the will and the 
caprice of the officers of the king. By his medical 
skill, Felix Carey had secured the favor of the 
viceroy at Rangoon and obtained from the king 
permission that the Bible might be translated into 



22 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

the Burman language. Under these partially favor- 
able conditions the new missionaries began their 
labors, and Mr. Jndson applied himself to the study 
of the language with all his native intensity of 
application and great mental powers. His aids 
were few. Dr. Felix Carey had made some begin- 
nings of literary work, but, for the most part, Mr. 
Judson was compelled to prepare his own dictionary 
and grammar as he went on with his study, gather- 
ing and comparing words and idioms day by day 
with that care and accuracy which made his trans- 
lation of the Burman Bible one of the notable bibli- 
cal versions of all times and tongues. 

While exposed to much peril from the lawless 
character of the people and from the location of 
their house without the limits of the city, the life of 
the Judsons was by no means so unhappy or unfa- 
vorable for mission work as they had expected from 
their previous impressions of Burma. In addition 
to the conciliatory attitude of the viceroy of Ran- 
goon, won by the medical skill of Carey, Mr. Jud- 
son had now gained his personal favor and protec- 
tion for himself. Of his pleasant impressions of 
Burma he wrote to Dr. William Carey on September 
28, 1814: 

This is a delightful climate. We have now seen all 
the seasons and can therefore judge. The hot weather 
in March and April is the chief exception. Nature has 
done everything for this country and the government is 
very indulgent to all foreigners. When we see how we 



BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 23 

are distinguished above all around, . even in point of 
worldly comforts, we feel that we want gratitude. Oh, 
that we may be faithful in the improvement of every 
mercy and patient under every trial which God may 
have in store for us ! We know not how the gospel can 
ever be introduced here ; everything in this respect ap- 
pears as dark as midnight. 

The work of preaching the gospel was necessarily 
held largely in abeyance until the language could 
be acquired, and this proved so difficult with the 
inadequate aids at his command, that Judson con- 
fessed that he gained a better knowledge of French 
in a few months than of Burman in three years. 
However, by diligent application he had translated 
the Gospel of Matthew by 1816, and prepared sev- 
eral tracts on phases of Christianity which seemed 
fitted to attract Burman minds and acquaint them 
with the fundamental principles of the gospel. On 
October 15 of this same year arrived the first 
reinforcements of the infant Baptist mission in 
Burma. Rev. George H. Hough and his wife, na- 
tives of New Hampshire, were the first to sail from 
America under the auspices of the Baptist Mission- 
ary Convention, which indicated its sense of the 
importance of the printed word by appointing a 
printer as the first to start for the mission field 
under its direction. The Serampore mission sup- 
plied him with a printing press and all appliances 
necessary to place the truth in the printed page 
before the Burman people. 



24 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

The delay in giving the gospel to the people in 
oral form, caused by the difficulty in gaining a com- 
mand of Barman speech, led Mr. Judson to under- 
take a voyage to Chittagong, Arakan, to secure 
Christian converts to assist him, since the dialect 
used there was similar to that of the Burmans. He 
also hoped that his health, which had become some- 
what impaired, would receive benefit from the 
change. This journey, entered upon from such 
high motives, proved a source of untold anxiety 
and distress to the little mission circle in Rangoon. 
Mr. Judson had expected to be absent three months. 
At the end of that time the startling intelligence 
was received from Chittagong that neither he nor 
the vessel in which he sailed had reached that port. 
Imagine the dismay of Mrs. Judson and her com- 
panions, helpless amid their uncivilized surround- 
ings. In addition, a sad change had come to the 
circumstances of the mission. The friendly official 
was supplanted by one of entirely different charac- 
ter, who, by calling Mr. Hough before him and by 
threats, endeavored to extort bribes for toleration 
and protection. Still more ominous were the threat- 
enings of war between Burma and England. British 
merchants hastily closed their business and departed 
from Rangoon. Ship after ship sailed away until 
only one foreign vessel was left in Rangoon River. 
On this the Houghs determined to embark, and with 
much difficulty persuaded Mrs. Judson to accompany 
them. She went on board, but before the ship had 



BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 25 

left the river, she heroically resolved to return and 
in the Rangoon home await the coming of her 
husband, or some certain news of his fate. The 
Houghs were compelled to return with her, as she 
could not be abandoned in the unsettled condition 
of the country. In a week Mr. Judson arrived 
safe and well, having been driven from place to 
place by contrary winds and unable to reach his 
destination. Thus was the heroism of the devoted 
wife rewarded, and in this trial brightly shone forth 
the exalted traits of character which in after years 
have made immortal the name of Ann Hasseltine 
Judson. 

Disheartened by the continued and increasing 
perils, the Houghs soon sailed with all the printing- 
materials for Calcutta, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Judson 
again alone in Rangoon. Their lonely lot was soon 
cheered, however, by the arrival of Rev. James 
Colman and Rev. Edward W. Wheelock, of Boston, 
with their wives, who reached Rangoon in Septem- 
ber, 1818, after a tedious delay of several months 
in Calcutta, because of the infrequent and uncertain 
communication Avith Burma. For the help of the 
new missionaries, Mr. Judson began the preparation 
of his grammar, which was afterward published, 
and has remained a foundation for an accurate 
knowledge of the Burman language. Their joys 
were also heightened by the opening of a zayat for 
preaching the gospel, in April, 1819, the first house 
distinctively devoted to Christian worship in Burma, 



26 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

the stronghold of Buddhism ; and on June 1 9, after 
six years of toil, privation, and peril, their hearts 
were gladdened by the baptism of the first Burman 
convert. This was Moung Nau, who was also, as 
far as history shows, the first convert from the big- 
oted beliefs of Buddhism to the truths of the religion 
of Jesus Christ. Two others were baptized on No- 
vember 7 of the same year, and the first Christian 
church, composed of the three converts and the little 
band of American missionaries, began to shed its 
rays of divine light amid the darkness of Buddhist 
Burma. 

As their previous life in Burma had been a suc- 
cession of pleasures and perils, so the new joys of 
the Judsons were destined to an early eclipse. Both 
AVheelock and Colman began to show symptoms of 
fatal disease, and it became necessary for Mr. AVhee- 
lock to sail for Calcutta in hope of recovery. On 
the voyage, in a frenzy of delirium, he threw him- 
self from his cabin window and w r as drowned in the 
bay of Bengal, the first of the long succession of 
American Baptists who have given their lives for 
the salvation of the people of Burma. The dawn- 
ing success of the mission aroused the hostility of 
the Buddhist priests and Burman officials. Threats 
were uttered against any who might be disposed to 
follow the new religion. The preaching zayat, 
which had often been crowded with hearers, -was 
almost deserted, although located on one of the 
most frequented streets of the city. It became evi- 



BEGINNINGS IN BURMA 27 

dent that the mission work would become increas- 
ingly difficult unless the favor of the despot at Ava 
could be secured, and Judson, with Colman, made 
the long journey to the capital in a small boat to 
seek an audience with the king. They were intro- 
duced by the friendly official, formerly viceroy of 
Rangoon ; but their petition was rejected, and they 
were compelled to return disappointed and almost 
crushed under a sense of the difficulties and dangers 
which threatened their beloved work. So strong 
was their feeling of the impossibility of success in 
Christian mission work in Burma without the toler- 
ance of the arrogant and powerful officials, that it 
was proposed to remove the whole mission to Chitta- 
gong. In this crisis the faith and courage for con- 
tinuance came from the few native converts, who 
argued that not even the powerful emperor could 
destroy the work of God, and entreated the mission- 
aries not to leave them. It was arranged that the 
Judsons should remain in Rangoon and Mr. and 
Mrs. Colman should go to Chittagong to open a 
mission, which should serve as a place of retreat in 
case the missionaries were compelled to leave Burma. 
Thus for a second time, so early in its history, did 
the Baptist mission in Burma narrowly escape aban- 
donment. 

The Colmans arrived in Chittagong June 5, 1820. 
Mr. Colman's health, never firm, soon succumbed to 
the climate, and he died at a place in the interior 
called Cox's Bazar, July 4, 1822. Mrs. Colman 



28 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

labored for a time at Serampore as a teacher of 
children, and afterward married Rev. Amos Sutton, 
an English Baptist missionary in Orissa, thus be- 
coming a link in the chain which led to the found- 
ing of the great American Baptist mission to the 
Telugus. It was Mr. Sutton who, while on a visit 
to his wife's relatives in America, brought the needs 
of the Telugu people to the notice of the Missionary 
Convention at its meeting in Richmond, Va., in 
1835. 

He also called to the attention of the Free 
Baptists of America the promising opening for 
a mission in Bengal Province, north of Orissa, and 
was thus the means of establishing the Bengal Free 
Baptist Mission. 



CHAPTER IV 

TO THE END OF THE FIEST BURMAN WAR 

THE second meeting of the General Missionary 
Convention, commonly known as " The Second 
Triennial Convention," was held in the Sansom 
Street Baptist Church, Philadelphia, in May, 1817, 
and was an occasion of great interest. The foreign 
missionary movement had greatly grown. Dele- 
gates were present from twelve States, including 
Kentucky, it being the first time that Baptists west 
of the Allegheny Mountains had been represented. 
At this epochal meeting, which lasted a full week, 
five important measures were adopted, all of which 
are still in force and have had a profound influ- 
ence on the development of the Baptist denomina- 
tion in this country. (1) " The Baptist Missionary 
Magazine" was adopted as the organ of the Conven- 
tion. (2) A seminary for the training of young men 
fur the ministry was authorized, an action which re- 
sulted in the founding of Columbian University, at 
Washington. (3) The churches were earnestly rec- 
ommended to observe the first Monday in every 
month as a concert of prayer for missions. These 
three measures were passed by the Convention. At 
the meeting of the Board of Managers, immediately 

29 



30 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

after, steps were taken (4) for opening missions 
among the American Indians, and (5) two mission- 
aries, Rev. John M. Peck and Rev. James E. Welch, 
were appointed to labor among the new settlements 
in the vicinity of St. Louis, in Missouri. This re- 
markable Convention thus inaugurated movements 
covering the whole ground of denominational jour- 
nalism, education, unity in church life and home 
missions, both among Indians and white people, ac- 
tions which speak loudly of the piety, breadth, 
courage, and mental calibre of the leading minds 
among those present. The annual income of the 
Convention, which at first had been estimated at 
five thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars, had 
advanced to twenty-six thousand and fifty-two dol- 
lars and one cent. 

The measures thus adopted were carried steadily 
forward until the Fifth Triennial Convention, which 
was held in the Oliver Street Church, in New York 
City, in May, 1826. This meeting, lasting twelve 
days, marked a turning-point in the history of the 
Convention. Columbian University, which had be- 
come well established, was placed under a separate 
Board of trustees for better legal and internal ad- 
ministration, and the headquarters of the Conven- 
tion were removed from Philadelphia to Boston, 
where they have since remained. This latter action 
was taken for two reasons : first, because passages 
to India could then be more easily arranged from 
Boston, but more especially because the funds of the 



TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR 31 

Convention were running low, and the Baptists of 
New England came forward and became responsible 
for the entire support of the missions. Because of 
this removal, Doctor Staughton resigned as corres- 
ponding secretary of the Convention, and Lucius 
Bolles, D. d., who had been chosen assistant in 1824, 
became sole secretary in 1826. In this same year, 
and just before the meeting of the Convention, the 
Baptist General Tract Society, formed in Washing- 
ton, in 1824, now known as the American Baptist 
Publication Society, had been removed to the city 
of Philadelphia, an action which was destined to 
exercise a profound influence on Baptist missionary 
work at home and abroad. As the year 1814 had 
marked the union of the Baptists of the United 
States in a common society and work, so the year 
1826 signalized the beginning of that division of 
labor among organizations supported by the same 
constituency for the more efficient prosecution of 
diverse lines of denominational activity, which was 
continued by the founding of the American Baptist 
Home Mission Society in 1832, and later by other 
organizations for local and special purposes and 
aims. 

For the benefit of her health Mrs. Judson had 
been compelled to visit Serampore, in 1820, and in 
August, 1821, sailed for America, leaving Doctor 
Judson alone in Burma until the arrival in December 
of Rev. Jonathan Price, m. d., who had been sent 
out by the Convention. The following month Mr. 



32 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Hough returned to Rangoon from Serampore, bring- 
ing back the printing press, the loss of which had 
been a serious hindrance to the work of the mission, 
which now went on with renewed vigor. Within a 
few months reports of the medical skill of Doctor 
Price reached the king at Ava, and he was sum- 
moned to the capital. Although reluctant to leave 
his work, Doctor Judson was compelled to go with 
him as interpreter. They left Rangoon August 28, 
1822, and were well received by the king, who de- 
sired them to remain in Ava, and caused a house to 
be given them. After much thought it seemed best 
to take advantage of this very favorable opportunity 
to open a mission in the capital of Burma, and Doc- 
tor Judson went to Rangoon to meet Mrs. Judson, 
who arrived there December 5, 1823, on her return 
from America, with Rev. Jonathan Wade and his 
wife. Mrs. Judson's presence in the United States 
had aroused great interest, and she was urged to 
remain longer. But although her health was not 
fully restored, she decided, against the entreaties of 
her friends, to return to her husband and her work, 
a decision which in the providence of God led to 
the preservation of the life and the securing to the 
world of the later labors of the pioneer of Baptist 
foreign missions. 

At this time the whole New Testament had been 
translated into the Burman tongue, and a church of 
eighteen members gathered in Rangoon. This 
promising work the Judsons left to the care of Mr. 



TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR 33 

Hough and Mr. Wade, and went to Ava with re- 
joicing hearts in view of the bright openings and 
prospects before the mission in Burma. Their 
ardent hopes were destined to be rudely shattered. 
Already the ominous whisper of threatening war 
was in the air. Rangoon was bombarded by the 
English forces and captured May 23, 1824. Dur- 
ing the attack Messrs. Hough and Wade were ar- 
rested and threatened with death by the Burmans, 
and their unprotected wives exposed to great peril. 
By the good hand of the Lord they were delivered 
and set free by the English on the capture of the 
city. But the Burmans had fled. Rangoon was in 
ruins. All hopes of useful missionary work was 
destroyed, and Messrs. Wade and Hough, with their 
wives, removed to Calcutta, where they remained 
during the war, known in English history as the 
First Burman War. Having a copy of Mr. Judson's 
translation with him at Serampore, Mr. Hough 
printed five hundred copies of the Gospel of Matthew 
in the Burman language, and Mr. Wade supervised 
the publication of Judson's Burman dictionary issued 
at the expense of the British government. 

Mr. Judson and Doctor Price, at Ava, were ar- 
rested by the Burmans on June 8, 1824, simply be- 
cause they were foreigners, and supposed to be in 
sympathy with the English, and for more than a 
year and a half they were in prison at Ava, Amara- 
pura, or Oungpenla (now spelled Aungbinle) under 
the most cruel tortures of body and mind which it 
c 



34 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

is possible for the human constitution to survive. 
The Burmans gave no food to their prisoners, who 
were entirely dependent upon their friends or the 
kindness of strangers for subsistence. That Mr. 
Judson did not die of starvation in prison, that he 
survived the severe sufferings of his long imprison- 
ment, was entirely due to the heroism of Mrs. Jud- 
son, who bought supplies as long as she had money, 
and then begged from house to house in order to 
obtain the food necessary to sustain her husband as 
well as herself. No words could describe the agony 
of those long months, both to the prisoner and to 
his feeble but heroic wife. Mrs. Judson writes : 
" Of our sufferings and distresses none can form an 
idea but those who were in confinement with us. 
You will hardly believe when I say that so entirely 
occupied were our minds with afflictions and seek- 
ing means for deliverance, that months have elapsed 
without thinking of home or those dear friends on 
whom our thoughts have been so constantly fixed." 
Doctor Judson wrote : " We survive a scene of suf- 
fering which seems not a reality, but a horrid 
dream." 

At one time Mrs. Judson's house was plundered 
by the natives and nearly everything of value which 
she possessed was taken from her. Twice during 
the nineteen fearful months of Doctor Judson's im- 
prisonment at Ava and Aungbinle she was brought 
to the gates of death, once on the birth of little 
Maria, that child of sorrow, and a second time with 



TO THE END OF THE FIRST BUEMAN WAR 35 

the terrible spotted fever. During this last sickness 
the life of little Maria was preserved by the sad- 
hearted father, who obtained a short daily release 
from his prison, and in his chains bore his little 
daughter from house to house, begging that she 
might be fed by the Burman mothers. Even 
heathen hearts could not refuse such a pitiful re- 
quest. Amid all the gloom and terror of these 
terrible months two comforts supported Mrs. Jud- 
son during her sufferings and suspense. A faithful 
Burman Christian, Moung Ing, with great devotion, 
stayed unflinchingly by her side. She also found 
friends among the women of Moung Shawloo's 
family. Shawloo was governor of the north palace, 
and it was through him that the release of Doctor 
Judson was at last obtained. With what joy did 
the heroic wife hail the day of deliverance, when 
with her husband and child they were set free by 
the Burman authorities and sailed away to safety. 
But like other heroines in other times the tremen- 
dous strain was too great for the frail strength of 
Mrs. Judson, and only six months after their release 
the heroine of Ava was laid to rest beneath the Hopia 
tree at Amherst. The closing scenes of her life 
were most pathetic. After reaching Amherst, Doc- 
tor Judson was called to the British headquarters to 
act as interpreter to the embassy charged with ne- 
gotiating a treaty of peace. During his absence 
Mrs. Judson died alone, October 24, 1826, with 
only natives to care for her in her last moments. 



36 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

So passed away one of the genuine heroines of 
earth. She gave her life for others, following in 
the footsteps of her Lord. To the noble army of 
Christian women, who have oifered themselves as a 
sacrifice for the salvation of the heathen, she has 
been an example and an inspiration. She was the 
first woman to enter upon Christian labors in a 
purely heathen kingdom in the East, and was the 
heroic pioneer of those who have followed her as 
she followed the Lord Jesus Christ. May the 
church never lack those ready with the same heroic 
courage to surrender all, even life itself, when duty 
calls to service for others and sacrifice for Christ. 

At the close of the war the provinces of Arakan 
and Tenasserim were ceded to the English, and 
Amherst was selected as headquarters of the English 
in Burma. Hither the Judsons removed, reaching 
that place July 2, 1826, the Wades coming Novem- 
ber 23, a month after the death of Mrs. Judson. 
Mr. Hough and Doctor Price both retired from the 
mission, the former becoming an interpreter and 
teacher, and the latter entering the service of the 
Burman king at Ava. During the long captivity 
of Judson the manuscript of the Burman Bible, as 
far as translated, was preserved by an evident mani- 
festation of divine care. It was concealed from the 
suspicious Burmans by being sewed into a pillow. 
At one time during Doctor Judson's confinement 
this was taken from him and thrown upon a heap 
of refuse as entirely worthless. Here it was provi- 



TO THE END OF THE FIRST BURMAN WAR 37 

dentially seen by Moung Ing, who, since all the 
other possessions of the Judsons had been destroyed 
or stolen, took this old pillow simply as a memento, not 
knowing its value. Later the precious manuscript 
Avas discovered and taken with the liberated prison- 
ers within the British lines. By this remarkable 
exhibition of the care of the Lord, Judson was en- 
abled to resume his work of translation at the point 
where it had ended before the war began, and to 
give the Burman people the whole Bible in their 
own language in a version so accurate and idiomatic 
that comparatively little revision has ever been 
called for. 



CHAPTER V 

GROWTH AND EXPANSION 

WHILE the mission in Burma naturally en- 
gaged much of the attention of American 
Baptists, their missionary activity was by no means 
limited to this one field. The missions among vari- 
ous tribes of American Indians, founded before the 
organization of the General Convention, were con- 
tinued, usually under the auspices of local societies. 
But in 1817 the Board of the Convention appointed 
Rev. Isaac McCoy to labor among the Indians of vari- 
ous tribes in Indiana and Illinois. Later Rev. Evan 
Jones and others were sent to the Cherokees in North 
Carolina. Other Baptist missionaries labored among 
various tribes in the East, and several of these mis- 
sionaries accompanied the Indians in their cruel and 
unjust removal by the United States Government 
from their homes to the new territories allotted to 
them in the West. Many of these Indians had be- 
come Christianized and comparatively civilized and 
had accumulated property in their Eastern homes, 
and the forcible rending of the ties which bound them 
to their ancestral lands was one of those wholesale 
crimes which stain the pages of history, like the ex- 
pulsion of the Moors and of the Jews from Spain, 

38 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 39 

the Acadians from Nova Scotia, and the Jews from 
Russia. From lack of materials its harrowing his- 
tory can never be fully written and it yet awaits its 
Longfellow to bring its shameful features to the 
hearts of the American people. 

The tribes which enjoyed the labors of Baptist 
missionaries were the Miami, Kickapoo, Putawato- 
mie, Shawanoe, Cherokee, Creek, Oneida, and Tus- 
carora, Ottawa, Choctaw, Ojibwa, Chippewa, Otoe, 
Omaha, Delaware, and Stockbridge. The work 
was greatly broken by the removal of many of these 
tribes to the West, by which they were reduced to 
poverty and largely lapsed into barbarism. Yet 
missionary work was still continued with several 
tribes, notably the Cherokee and the Shawanoe, and 
nearly two thousand converts were baptized. With 
the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, the mission 
work among the Indians, which had been carried 
on with diminished force for several years, practi- 
cally ceased. In 1865 it was formally transferred 
from the foreign Board to the American Baptist 
Home Mission Society, whose successful work among 
the Indians in later years is a part of the history of 
Baptists in the United States. 

Africa also early claimed the missionary attention 
of American Baptists. Inspired probably by the 
rise of interest in missions among the whites, the 
Negro Baptists in 1814 organized the "African 
Baptist Missionary Society," in Richmond, Ya., for 
the purpose of sending missionaries to Africa. Be- 



40 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

cause of poverty, funds came in slowly, but in 1818 
they had gathered the sum of seven hundred dollars. 
Under these circumstances the General Convention 
came to their aid, and at the meeting of the Board 
of Managers held in Baltimore, April 28, 1819, 
two men selected by the Richmond Society, Colin 
Teague and Lott Carey, both of whom were free 
men and preachers, were appointed as missionaries 
to Africa. They sailed in January, 1820, in the brig 
"Nautilus," from Norfolk, Virginia, and settled 
first near Free Town, Sierra Leone. The mission- 
aries were connected with a colony sent out by the 
American Colonization Society, which afterward 
permanently located at a place called Montserado, 
the name of which was soon changed to Monrovia, 
and for the country the name of Liberia was adopted. 
Mr. Teague soon left the mission, and Mr. Carey 
was joined by Rev. C. M. Waring, also from Vir- 
ginia. A Baptist church was formed in 1824, a 
school was opened by Mr. Carey, and nine persons 
were baptized in that year. Mr. Calvin Holton, a 
graduate of Waterville College and the first white 
man to be sent to Africa by American Baptists, 
joined the mission at Monrovia in 1826. A deep 
interest in the Christianization of Africa was shown 
by Baptists in this country. Five missionaries were 
sent out in the decade between 1830 and 1840. 
But the climate of Liberia proved unfavorable to 
the residence of missionaries from Ajnerica and 
only a feAV have gone forth since the latter date. 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 41 

Prosperity attended the labors of the missionaries, 
however, and the work extended from Monrovia to 
other parts of Liberia, especially to Grand Cape 
Mount and to Grand Bassa. With the growth 
of Liberia, the Baptist churches have been greatly 
strengthened by colonies from the United States, 
and have attained an enrollment of more than three 
thousand members. Aid from this country was 
gradually withdrawn and wholly ceased previous to 
1880, and the Liberian churches have continued in 
a course of moderate prosperity on the basis of self- 
support. Within a few years some assistance on 
educational lines has been afforded by the Negro 
Baptists of the South, and there were in 1900 some 
indications of a revival of interest in missionary 
work in Liberia among American Baptists. 

The four years from 1833 to 1837 form a nota- 
ble period in the history of American Baptist mis- 
sions. Previous to 1833 the rising tide of mission- 
ary zeal among American Baptists had expended 
its force almost wholly in Burma, in Liberia, among 
the American Indians, and in the more sparsely set- 
tled regions of the United States. But now the 
swelling flood began to overleap the barriers and 
flow forth to other lands in accordance with the 
divinely given impulse of obedience to the Saviour's 
last command, " Go ye into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature." In that year the 
mission in Burma having occupied the three impor- 
tant centers of Rangoon, Moulmein, and Tavoy, 



42 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

with outlying laborers at Mergui, Amherst, Kyouk 
Phyu in Arakan, and several minor points, the mis- 
sionaries commissioned Rev. John Taylor Jones of 
'their own number to open a mission in Bangkok, 
,Siam, where he was joined in 1835 by Rev. William 
Dean. In 1833 was also founded the Baptist mis- 
sion in France on the recommendation of Professor 
Irah Chase, of Newton Theological Institution, who 
with Rev. J. C. Rostan, had been sent as a deputa- 
tion to report on the advisability of opening a 
Baptist mission in that country. Rev. Isaac Will- 
marth was sent by the General Missionary Conven- 
tion to this field in 1834, and was followed by Rev. 
Erastus Willard and others. On April 22, 1834, 
Johann G. Oncken and six others were baptized in 
the river Elbe, near Hamburg, Germany, by Pro- 
fessor Barnas Sears, and thus was begun that great 
German Baptist Mission which has spread all over 
Central Europe and to which the Baptist missions 
in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia owe 
their inspiration and their birth. In 1834 also, a 
mission in Hayti was begun by the appointment of 
Mr. William C. Monroe as a missionary to labor in 
that part of the West Indies, but this was discon- 
tinued in 1837 with the retirement of Mr. Monroe 
from the work. 

At the eighth triennial meeting of the General 
Missionary Convention held in the city of Richmond, 
Va., in 1835, the missionary enthusiasm of Ameri- 
can Baptists reached a higher point than had before 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 43 

been attained. By the liberal contributions of the 
denomination all the expenses of the missions and 
their administration had been fully met, and a grati- 
fying surplus was in the treasury. The state of the 
missionary movement among the churches was such 
that enlargement was felt to be imperative in order 
to allow full scope for the growing zeal for the ex- 
tension of the kingdom of the Redeemer. Two cor- 
responding secretaries were chosen, instead of one 
as heretofore ; the services of the treasurer, which 
had been gratuitous up to this time, had become so 
arduous and important that arrangements were made 
that he should receive suitable compensation ; it 
was resolved to " endeavor, by the blessing of God, 
to raise during the coming year at least one hundred 
thousand dollars, for the purpose of sending the 
gospel to the heathen," and the following general 
instruction to the Board of Managers was passed 
" after animating remarks by different brethren." 

Resolved, That this Convention, feeling deeply the duty 
of the American Baptists to engage in far more enlarged 
and vigorous efforts for the conversion of the whole world, 
instruct the Board to establish new missions in every un- 
occupied place where there may be a reasonable prospect 
of success ; and to employ in some part of the great field, 
every properly qualified missionary whose services the 
Board may be able to obtain. 

The immediate establishment of a mission among 
the Telinga, or Telugu, people of India, was also rec- 
ommended by a special committee appointed to con- 



44 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

sider the subject as presented in an address before 
the Convention by Rev. Amos Sutton of the English 
Baptist Mission in Orissa, India. Mr. Sutton, as 
already stated, had married in India, the widow of 
Rev. James Colman, one of the early martyrs of the 
American Baptist Missions in Arakan, and was at 
this time visiting her relatives. In this providential 
way was brought to the attention of American Bap- 
tists the Telugu mission field, which has witnessed 
the most inspiring triumphs of the gospel, and which, 
with the Karen mission, has made the name of 
American Baptists illustrious in the missionary 
annals of the world. 

The first result of this great Convention was the 
appointment of Rev. Howard Malcom as a deputa- 
tion to visit the mission fields in Asia. He sailed 
from Boston in September, 183-5, with a large com- 
pany of missionaries, among whom were Rev. Elisha 
L. Abbott and Rev. Samuel S. Day, designated to 
open a mission among the Telingas as the people 
were then called, or Telugus, as they are now known. 
Before arrival in India it was decided by Mr. Mal- 
com and the missionary company that Mr. Abbott 
should go to the Karen mission in Burma, which he 
did, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Day to open the Baptist 
mission among the Telugus. They landed first at 
Vizagapatam, after a time removed to Madras, and 
in 1840 located at Nellore, which for twenty-six 
years continued the only station in the Telugu mis- 
sion — the " Lone Star." 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 45 

A second result of the action of the Convention 
at Richmond was the opening of the mission in 
Greece. Its headquarters were first established at 
Corfu, but gradually other points were occupied. 
Although the gospel found ready listeners among 
the Greeks, there has never been any large number 
who were impelled to leave the national church. 
The Greek mission was carried on for a long series 
of years, often amid persecutions and usually in the 
face of obstacles and indifference, until the work Avas 
finally discontinued in 1886. 

Inspired also by the glowing zeal of the mission- 
ary spirit among American Baptists at this period, 
Rev. Nathan Brown, of the mission in Burma, with 
Mr. O. T. Cutter, a printer, responded to the invita- 
tion of an English official in Assam, and opened 
mission work at Sadiya in the extreme northeastern 
part of that province of India, in the year 1836. 
The missionaries had become acquainted with a race 
of people called Shans, occupying the hills of north- 
eastern Burma, and learning that this race or tribe 
extended over the mountains into Assam, where they 
are called Khamti, the mission in Assam was begun 
under the name " mission to the Shans," and also 
with the idea of ultimately effecting an entrance to 
the western provinces of China, a plan which was 
formally endorsed and encouraged by the Board of 
Managers of the Convention. 

While these stirring advances were being made in 
the missionary work abroad, events of great interest 



46 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

and importance were occurring at home. At the 
same Convention held at Richmond at which the 
establishment of the Telugu mission was authorized, 
the following resolution in regard to the Bible work 
was adopted : 

Resolved, That the generous donations which have re- 
peatedly been made to the funds of the Convention by 
the American Bible Society, the American Tract Society, 
and the Baptist General Tract Society, are regarded by 
this body as a delightful indication of that increasing 
spirit of Christian union and fraternal co-operation which 
is the promised precursor of Messiah's promised reign. 

The translating and giving to the peoples on the 
mission fields the word of God had always been 
considered an object of the highest importance by 
American Baptists. Large sums had been expended 
by them out of the general contributions to the Con- 
vention, in addition to the amounts received from 
various Bible Societies, chiefly those noted in the 
above resolution. 

The harmonious and delightful course of affairs 
referred to in this resolution was however destined 
to a speedy and rude disturbance. Versions made 
by the Baptist missionaries had always been pre- 
pared on the principle of giving to people of every 
language the exact meaning of the Bible in the 
original, by translation. This had aroused a protest 
on the part of Pedobaptist missionaries in India, 
which had led to a refusal on the part of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society to further assist in the 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 47 

printing of the Bengali translation of the Bible made 
by the English Baptist missionaries. The same pro- 
test was forwarded to the American Bible Society, 
and after prolonged consideration and discussion 
that society adopted a resolution that they would 
aid only such versions as conformed in the principle 
of their translation to the Common English version. 
This made it impossible for the society to continue 
its appropriations for the versions made by Judson 
and other Baptist missionaries in India, and led to 
the separation of the Baptists from the American 
Bible Society. At the meeting of the Board of 
Managers of the General Convention, held in Hart- 
ford, in 1836, a special committee was appointed on 
this subject, which presented the following report : 

The committee, to whom was referred the communi- 
cation from the Board of Managers of the American 
Bible Society, unanimously report : 

That these communications present two subjects, for 
the decision of the Board : 

1. Mr. Brigham, in his letter dated March 25, 1836, 
states that on the 17th inst., at a meeting of the mana- 
gers, the sum of five thousand dollars was appropriated 
to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, to promote 
the circulation of the Scriptures in foreign tongues.' 

This appropriation, however, was made in accordance 
with certain resolutions of the Board of Managers, 
adopted Feb. 17, 1836, one of which resolutions declares, 
"That in appropriating money for the translating, print- 
ing, or distributing of the sacred Scriptures in foreign 
languages, the managers feel at liberty to encourage only 
such versions aj conform in the principles of their transla- 



48 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

tion to the Common English version, at least so far as that 
all the religious denominations represented in the society 
can consistently use and circulate said versions in their 
several schools and communities." Another resolution 
declares, "That the several Missionary Boards be in- 
formed that their applications for aid must be accom- 
panied with a declaration that the versions which they 
propose to circulate are executed in accordance with 
the above resolutions." 

The committee recommend to the Board the adoption 
of the following preamble and resolution : 

Whereas, This Board, at their annual meeting, held 
in Salem, in April, 1833, adopted the following resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved, That the Board feel it to be their duty to 
adopt all prudent measures to give to the heathen the 
pure word of God in their own languages, and to furnish 
their missionaries with all the means in their pow r er to 
make the translations as exact a representation of the 
mind of the Holy Spirit as may be possible. 

Resolved, That all the missionaries of the Board, who 
are, or who shall be, engaged in translating the Scrip- 
tures, be instructed to endeavor, by earnest prayer and 
diligent study, to ascertain the exact meaning of the 
original text ; to express that meaning, as exactly as the 
nature of the languages into which they shall translate 
the Bible will permit ; and to transfer no words which 
are capable of being literally translated. 

And Whereas, The Board still adheres firmly to these 
resolutions, as expressing, in their judgment, the only 
true principle on which translations can be made ; and 
as uttering what they believe to be the decided opinion 
of the great mass of the denomination whom they repre- 
sent : Therefore, 
Resolved, That the Board of Managers of the American 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 49 

Bible Society be respectfully informed tbat tbis Board 
cannot, consistently and conscientiously, comply with 
the conditions on which appropriations are now made, 
and cannot therefore accept the sum appropriated by 
the Board of Managers on the 17th of March, 1836. 

2. Mr. Brigham further informs the secretary of the 
Board, that it is in contemplation to send Bible agents 
to several of the large missionary stations abroad, to 
take charge of the interests of the Bible cause so far as 
the American Bible Society is concerned. It is designed 
that the agent, in each case, be of the denomination to 
which the missionaries on the ground belong. Would 
it, Sir, be agreeable to your Board, to have such an agent 
sent to any of your stations ? 

The committee recommend the adoption of the fol- 
lowing resolution : 

Resolved, That in the present state of things, the Board 
cannot perceive that the appointment of an agent of the 
American Bible Society, at any of their stations, would 
subserve any valuable purpose. 

The committee further recommend the adoption of 
the following preamble and resolution : 

Whereas, The Board have been impelled, by a con- 
scientious conviction of duty, to decline accepting the 
appropriation of funds made, on certain conditions, by 
the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society ; 
as the translation, printing, and distribution of the sacred 
Scriptures in the languages of the heathen are vitally 
connected with the glory of God and with the salvation 
of men ; and as the American Baptists enjoy great facili- 
ties for prosecuting this important work : Therefore, 

Resolved, That our brethren throughout the Union be 
most earnestly requested to adopt measures in their 
churches, Associations, missionary societies, or by any 
other suitable means, so to augment the funds of the 

D 



50 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Board, that the work of translating, printing, and dis- 
tributing the word of God, in heathen tongues, may be 
prosecuted with diligence and energy commensurate 
with the grandeur and surpassing importance of the 

enterprise. 

Under these circumstances there was formed in 
the city of New York, May 12, 1836, by a company 
of Baptists, the American and Foreign Bible Society, 
but its attempt to obtain incorporation in the Legis- 
lature of New York was defeated by the friends of 
the American Bible Society, and it could not obtain 
legal authority to act until the passage of the gen- 
eral Act for chartering societies, in 1848. How- 
ever, it received the support of American Baptists, 
and large sums were raised and forwarded to the 
missions for the publication of versions made by 
Baptist missionaries, in the Burman and other lan- 
guages. 

While insisting on full translation of the versions 
made abroad, the American and Foreign Bible Society 
refused to commit itself to an English version in 
which the terms referring to baptism were accurately 
translated. Hence on May 27, 1850, was formed 
in the city of New York, the American Bible Union, 
for the avowed purpose stated in its Constitution, 
" To procure and select the most faithful versions 
of the sacred Scriptures in all languages throughout 
the world." During the years of its existence the 
receipts of this society amounted to more than one 
million dollars, and " its versions influenced every 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION 51 

translation by Protestants, in Europe, Asia, Africa, 
and America." The purpose of the Bible Union in 
calling attention to the importance of full and accu- 
rate translation of the original Scriptures into all 
languages having been accomplished, it was practi- 
cally absorbed by the American and Foreign Bible 
Society before 1881. 

Various attempts were made to effect some modi- 
fication by which Baptists could again co-operate 
with the American Bible Society, but none were 
successful. In 1879 the Bible Society revised its 
by-laws and omitted the article which had driven 
Baptists from co-operation with that society in Bible 
work. It was for a time believed that this would 
enable the Baptists to return to affiliation with this 
society, and to test the attitude of the society toward 
translations made by Baptist missionaries, the Ex- 
ecutive Committee of the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union, in October, 1880, made an application 
to the American Bible Society for a grant to aid 
in the circulation of Doctor Judson's Burman and 
Doctor Mason's Karen versions. The application 
was refused, which plainly showed that while there 
had been a change in language, the attitude of the 
American Bible Society was the same as before. 
By this act the whole question of Bible work by 
American Baptists was again opened, and a confer- 
ence called by various committees was held in Sara- 
toga, N. Y., May 22 and 23, 1883, at which the 
whole question was fully considered. This great 



52 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Bible Convention was the largest and most repre- 
sentative delegated convention which had ever been 
held by American Baptists. After prolonged de- 
liberation the harmonious result of the Convention 
was that the foreign Bible work of the American 
Baptists should be committed to the American Baptist 
Missionary Union, and the home Bible work to the 
American Baptist Publication Society, and that the 
American and Foreign Bible Society and the Ameri- 
can Bible Union, should be merged into the Ameri- 
can Baptist Publication Society. 1 

1 A full account of the Bible work of American Baptists will 
be found in " Bible Societies and the Baptists," by C. C. Bitting, 
d. d., published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 
1897. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 

AS early as 1840 a restlessness in the relations 
between the Northern and Southern Baptist 
churches on the subject of slavery was evident. 
This was seen in a circular issued by the Acting 
Board of the Convention, November 2, 1840, stating 
that the Board held itself aloof from the question of 
slavery as not coming within the scope of its opera- 
tions. In 1842 a missive was addressed to all the 
missionaries of the Convention, by a body calling 
itself "The Provisional Foreign Mission Committee 
of the American Baptist Anti-slavery Convention," 
charging the Board of Managers of the Convention 
with yielding its neutrality in the matter of slavery, 
with adopting a humiliating attitude toward slave- 
holders, asserting that the entire North would aban- 
don the Convention, and asking if the missionaries 
receiving the circular would receive their support 
from an anti-slavery Convention to be formed. The 
Board denied the charges and disclaimed all sub- 
serviency either to the South or North, in a circular 
dated November 15, 1842. At the meeting of the 
Board of Managers held in April, 1843, the follow- 
ing preamble and resolution were adopted : 

53 



54 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Whereas, It appears to have been extensively under- 
stood that by certain transactions at Baltimore, during 
the last session of the Convention, the neutral attitude of 
the Board in relation to slavery was changed, therefore, 

Resolved, That the Circular issued by the Acting Board 
in the year 1840, asserting their neutrality on all sub- 
jects not immediately connected with the great work to 
which they were specially appointed, be reissued and 
printed with the Report of this year, as expressive of 
the sentiments and position of the present Board. 

The eleventh triennial meeting of the Baptist 
General Convention was held in the city of Phila- 
delphia, April 24, 1844. The conflict of feeling in 
regard to the question of slavery instead of being 
allayed, had rather increased. At this Convention, 
however, the following resolution was adopted with 
great unanimity : 

Whereas, There exist?, in various sections of the 
country, an impression that our present organization 
involves the fellowship of the institution of domestic 
slavery, or of certain associations which are designed to 
oppose that institution, 

Therefore, Resolved, That, in co-operating together as 
members of this Convention in the work of foreign mis- 
sions, we disclaim all sanction, either express or implied, 
whether of slavery or of anti-slavery ; but, as individuals, 
we are perfectly free both to express and to promote, 
elsewhere, our own views on these subjects in a Christian 
manner and spirit. 

Notwithstanding the conciliatory attitude of the 
Convention this was the last meeting at which the 



THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 55 

whole country was represented. Of the thirty-two 
members present at the organization of the Conven- 
tion only six members were living. The Convention 
of 1844 adjourned to meet in Cincinnati, in April, 
1847, but before that date events occurred which 
made another meeting of Baptists of all the States 
in the Convention impossible. The Convention, as 
representing the whole country, was a thing of the 
past. In the city of Philadelphia, where it began 
with the union of the Baptists of the whole country 
for the first time in an organization, there it ceased 
to live as representing all the States. 

At the annual meeting of the Board of Managers 
held in Providence, R. I., April 30, 1 845, the fol- 
lowing report on the subject which was exciting the 
attention of Baptists throughout the whole country, 
Avas adopted : 

The committee to whom was referred the correspond- 
ence between the Alabama State Convention and the 
Acting Board, have attended to the duty confided to 
them, and ask leave to present the following statements, 
as embracing, substantially, their views on the subject 
to which the correspondence refers. They are happy 
also to add, that in these views the members of the Act- 
ing Board present, in general, coincide. 

1. The spirit of the constitution of the General Con- 
vention, as well as the history of its proceedings from 
the beginning, renders it apparent that all the members 
of the Baptist denomination in good standing, whether 
at the North or the South, are constitutionally eligible 
to all appointments emanating either from the Conven- 
tion or the Board. 



56 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

2. While this is the case, it is possible that contin- 
gencies may arise, in which the carrying out of this 
principle might create the necessity of making appoint- 
ments by which the brethren of the North would, either 
in fact, or in the opinion of the Christian community, 
become responsible for institutions which they could not, 
with a good conscience, sanction. 

3. Were such a case to occur, we could not desire 
our brethren to violate their convictions of duty by 
making such appointments, but should consider it in- 
cumbent on them to refer the case to the Convention 
for its decision. 

All which is respectfully submitted, in behalf of the 
committee. 

F. Wayland, Chairman. 

This report was not satisfactory to the Baptists 
of the South, and the committee of the Alabama 
Convention addressed a direct inquiry to the Acting 
Board in Boston, asking if a slaveholder would be 
appointed as a missionary. The reply was that in 
accordance with the conscientious convictions of the 
members of the Board they could not appoint any 
person as a missionary who was the owner of slaves. 

The inevitable result of the controversy had been 
foreseen, and in response to a suggestion of the 
Foreign Missionary Society of Virginia, a large and 
enthusiastic gathering of Southern Baptists met in 
Augusta, Georgia, by whom on May 8, 1845, the 
Southern Baptist Convention, with two Boards, one 
for foreign and one for home missions, was formed. 1 

1 An account of the formation of the Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion will be found in " A History of the Baptists in the Southern 



THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 57 

The separation of the missionary efforts of the 
Baptists of the Northern and Southern portions of 
this country was deeply deplored by many of the 
leaders of the denomination in both sections. Ear- 
nest efforts were made by some to avert what 
seemed to them a serious disaster, but it was ap- 
parent to multitudes that separation was unavoid- 
able. If it had not occurred at that time it would 
unquestionably have been necessarily made at a 
later date. It is but fair to say, however, that the 
forebodings of disaster were not fully justified. 
While division, in itself and for many reasons, was 
to be deplored, the missionary cause suffered no in- 
jury, but was rather advanced by the separation. 
The distance of the Southern States from the head- 
quarters of the Acting Board of the General Con- 
vention, in Boston, caused the general interest of 
the churches in the South in the conduct of the 
Board to be of the weakest character. While many 
of the most prominent leaders of the Southern 
churches were ardently interested in the prosperity 
of the missions, the remoteness of the active man- 
agement was a serious disadvantage. By the sepa- 
ration of the missionary activities of the Northern 
and Southern Baptists the responsibility of both was 
increased. The Baptists of the North became aware 
that by the loss of the help of the Southern Baptists 
the whole support of the missions was thrown upon 

States East of the Mississippi," p. 206, by B. F. Riley, d. r>., pub- 
lished by the American Baptist Publication Society, in 1898. 



58 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

them, and if they were to be maintained in full 
power and effectiveness greater zeal and greater 
liberality on their part were called for ; while the 
Southern Baptists, by the organization of their for- 
eign mission Board in connection with the Southern 
Baptist Convention, had the question of missions 
brought home to their hearts and local loyalty in 
the strongest and most convincing manner. While 
undoubtedly there was considerable feeling, which 
was to be regretted as between different sections of 
the same Christian body, yet on the whole the sepa- 
ration served to provoke each section of the denom- 
ination to love and good works. Their ardor was 
aroused, their local interest was engaged, and the 
missionary activities of both the Northern and 
Southern Baptists were largely increased, and since 
that time have gone forward harmoniously and, in 
some instances side by side, with always increasing 
magnitude and power. 

Of all the missionaries under appointment by the 
General Convention two, the Rev. J. Lewis Shuck 
and the Rev. I. J. Roberts, of China, preferred to 
continue their labors under the auspices of the newly 
formed Southern Convention. Mr. Roberts was lo- 
cated at Canton, where Mr. Shuck had already been 
associated with him ; but after his visit to America 
Mr. Shuck was transferred to Shanghai, where he 
was associated with that missionary afterward so 
eminent in the annals of the Southern Baptist mis- 
sions, Matthew T. Yates, D. d., and others. 






THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 59 

It is related of Mr. Shuck that shortly after his 
conversion a collection for missions was taken in the 
church of which he was a member. After the col- 
lection, as the offering was being counted, there was 
found upon the plate a card upon which was written 
the word " myself." This was the young Christian 
convert's first offering to the cause of missions, and 
it is the noblest which any person can ever make. 

The Rev. I. J. Roberts had first gone to China 
in 1836, to be supported on the basis of a fund sup- 
posed to amount to about thirty thousand dollars, 
which he had himself given into the hands of the 
Kentucky China Mission Society, formed for the 
purpose. As the income of the fund failed to pro- 
vide his support he joined the staff of the General 
Convention, but was soon transferred to the South- 
ern Board. Mr. Roberts was a man of unques- 
tioned Christian devotion, but of somewhat erratic 
and peculiar character. While laboring under the 
auspices of the Southern Board he yet continued in 
a semi-independent relation to the other missionaries 
at Canton, the property which he occupied having 
been acquired by means raised by himself. Yet his 
labors were generally successful and continued with 
a reasonable degree of harmony, until finally his re- 
lations with the Convention were dissolved in 1852. 
He, however, continued his mission work independ- 
ently. Wang, the leader of the great Taiping re- 
bellion, had studied with Mr. Roberts in his mission 
school at Canton, and after the breaking out of that 



60 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

rebellion Mr. Roberts visited the leader in his camp. 
He was by him appointed as foreign minister of the 
Taiping government in 1860, and it was probably 
through his influence that a decree was issued by 
the rebel government abolishing idolatry. In the 
time-honored literary examinations it was decreed 
also that Bible themes should be substituted for 
Confucian subjects, and in this and other ways the 
leader showed his contempt for the ancient ideas 
which had ruled China, and his desire to inaugurate 
a new order of affairs. He sought the friendship 
of foreign nations ; and it has always been a ques- 
tion whether the future of China would not have 
been greatly advanced by the success of the rebel- 
lion. It may be that with all his conscientiousness 
General Gordon committed the great mistake of his 
life in aiding to subdue the army of the Taiping 
rebels. It had become evident that without for- 
eign aid the rebellion would be successful, and it 
is possible that if the hands of the foreign troops 
had been withheld, thirty-five years ago, China 
would have been farther advanced in the arts and 
sciences of civilization as well as in receptivity 
toward the truths of Christianity than she was in 
1900, and the troubles of that year would not have 
occurred. After a time, however, Mr. Roberts 
quarreled with the leader of the rebellion and 
turned against him. The whole career of this mis- 
sionary Avas of the most romantic and thrilling char- 
acter, from the devotion of his whole property to 






THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 61 

the missionary work, as a young man, to his death 
at Upper Alton, Illinois, Dec. 28, 1871, of leprosy, 
contracted while ministering to the unfortunate vic- 
tims of that terrible disease. 

The principal stations of the Southern Baptist 
mission in China were located in the midst of the 
scenes of the Taiping rebellion, at Canton and 
Shanghai, and shared in the vicissitudes of that 
contest. They were never molested, however, by 
the leaders of the rebellion and experienced much 
prosperity in the places in which they held control. 
Rev. R. H. Graves, m. d., was for many years the 
leader of the work in Canton, rendering eminent 
services in evangelistic, literary, and in educational 
work in training native assistants in the mission. 
The most eminent figure in the mission at Shanghai 
continued to be M. T. Yates, d. d. An interesting 
and singular physical phenomenon is recorded of 
Doctor Yates. He went to China at the age of 
twenty-seven. During his first stay of several years 
in China he gained one inch in height ; during his 
second stay he gained two inches more, making 
three inches in stature gained after the age of 
twenty-seven. His physical proportions in other 
directions increased correspondingly. This could 
hardly have been considered as a testimony to the 
unhealthfulness of missionary life in China. 

From 1860 to 1865 the China mission, in common 
with Other missions of the Southern Baptists, was 
embarrassed by wars both in China and in the United 



62 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

States. During these troublous times the mission- 
aries showed great heroism and self-denial. They 
declared that even if funds were entirely cut off the 
mission should be continued, and some of the mis- 
sionaries pursued their labors for several years with 
but scanty and occasional remittances from the 
Board in this country. 

Soon after the formation of the Southern Conven- 
tion it began operations in the Republic of Liberia. 
The work was carried on chiefly by Negroes, the 
few white missionories sent to that country not being 
able to remain because of the failure of health. 
The mission, however, had a large prosperity, 
twenty-four mission stations being established and 
continued, and about one thousand five hundred 
converts being gathered into the churches. Sierra 
Leone was occupied by missionaries in 1855, but 
was soon abandoned. A mission was established 
in Yoruba, a country in the interior from the gold 
coast of Africa, in 1849, which had gained some 
success, but was necessarily closed on account of the 
opposition of the chiefs in the interior from 1870 to 
1875. At the latter date the missionary work of 
the Southern Board in the Republic of Liberia was 
discontinued. Rev. W. J. David and Rev. W. W. 
Colley were transferred from that field to the Yoruba 
mission, which was then reopened, and has been 
continued in an era of prosperity and blessing. 

The Southern Baptists entered the city of Rome 
almost in the train of the victorious army of Victor 



THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 63 

Emmanuel, in the person of Rev. Wm. N. Cote, M. 
d., of Paris. Doctor Cote established himself in 
the imperial city, and his labors at once received the 
approval of the Lord. A church was formed in 
January, 1871, and much prosperity was experienced 
here and in the city of Bari, on the coast of the 
Adriatic, where a church of seventy-five members 
was baptized in one day. Funds to the amount of 
about twenty-seven thousand dollars were raised in 
this country, by which a chapel was built in the city 
of Rome under the auspices of George B. Taylor, 
d. D., for many years the superintendent of the 
Baptist mission in Italy. This became one of the 
foremost agencies for the evangelization of the 
people in that country, having prosperous and suc- 
cessful churches at Rome, Florence, Naples, and 
other cities in the Italian peninsula. 

The beginning of Southern Baptist mission work 
in South America was marked by one of the most 
striking incidents of Christian devotion to be found 
in the history of the church. Lough Fook, con- 
verted in the Baptist church in Canton, China, went 
to Demarara with a heart burning with zeal for the 
salvation of his people, who were in practical slavery 
in that city. Finding himself unable to reach them 
otherwise he sold himself into slavery in order that 
he might more freely preach the gospel among them. 
This was in 1861. In a short time a Baptist church 
was formed, the first in South America, which rap- 
idly grew until it numbered one hundred and fifty- 



64 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

six members. In one year they raised four hundred 
dollars for missionary purposes, besides supporting 
their own religious work, and maintained for several 
years a missionary to China. This consecrated 
servant of the Lord, Lough Fook, died in May, 
1884. Dr. R. H. Graves, of Canton, calls him 
"one of the brightest jewels that Christianity re- 
covered from the dust heaps in China." 

In 1850 the Southern Convention voted to es- 
tablish missions in Central and South America, and 
continued to consider the matter until 1860, when 
Rev. T. J. Bowen, founder of the Yoruba mission, 
was transferred to Brazil, since his health would not 
allow of his return to Africa. His strength proved 
insufficient, however, for missionary labors in Brazil, 
and the mission was abandoned in 1861. In 1871 
citizens from the Southern States, living in Sao 
Paulo, formed a Baptist church, and the Southern 
Baptist mission in Brazil was opened in 1879 in 
response to an application from this new church, not 
for help for themselves, but for missionaries to the peo- 
ple of Brazil. Churches have been formed at Santa 
Barbara, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and other places. 
At times there has been much freedom in missionary 
work, and at other times the mission has suffered 
from severe persecution. This, however, has dis- 
appeared, except in limited areas in the interior, and 
the Baptist missions have experienced large pros- 
perity. The church in Rio de Janeiro especially 
has been greatly prospered in membership and in 



THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 65 

spiritual power and influence among the people of 
that city. 

As early as 1860 the Southern Convention con- 
templated missions in Japan, and Rev. J. Q. A. 
Rohrer and his wife were appointed to open the 
work. They sailed Aug. 3, 1860, in the ship 
"Edwin Forrest," in company with Rev. A. L. 
Bond and wife, destined for the China mission. 
Mrs. Robinson, the mother of Mrs. Rohrer, ac- 
companied her daughter on board the " Edwin 
Forrest." The ties between mother and daughter 
had been peculiarly close and tender, and the mother 
was expecting to sail in a short time to rejoin her 
daughter in Japan. Before saying farewell she 
knelt in agony on the deck of the vessel and prayed 
that God would forgive her for consenting to even 
a temporary separation from her only child. Mrs. 
Rohrer replied, in what proved to be prophetic 
words : " Mother, with the exception of parting from 
you, this is the happiest day of my life. If we are 
lost at sea death will find us in the path of duty." 
The ship was never heard from after sailing ; and 
in the history of the Southern Baptist missions this 
disaster is one of the most touching and pathetic 
incidents, associated with the loss of Dr. and Mrs. 
J. S. James, who were drowned by the capsizing of 
a schooner while entering the harbor of Hongkong. 
The question of the mission in Japan was held in 
abeyance from this time until 1889, when mission- 
aries were sent to that country, who have established 



66 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

themselves at several points, and labor in harmony 
and co-operation with the previously established 
missions of the American Baptist Missionary Union. 

The Southern Baptist Mission in Mexico was 
founded in 1880, and as in many other cases, its 
initiation was attended by disaster. The Rev. John 
O. Westrup, who with his brother, Rev. T. M. 
Westrup, had been supported in Coahuila by the 
Texas Baptist State Convention, were accepted by 
the foreign Board of the Southern Convention in 
1880. In December of that year, however, Rev. 
John O. Westrup was murdered by a band of Indians 
and Mexicans, and the work was left in the hands 
of his brother, Rev. T. M. Westrup. Other mis- 
sionaries were appointed at later dates and the mis- 
sion in Mexico, with that of the Northern Baptists, 
has experienced considerable prosperity. 

One of the most romantic and deeply interesting 
missions under the auspices of American Baptists 
is that founded in the city of Havana, Cuba, by 
Albert Jose Diaz, and carried on chiefly under the 
auspices of the Home Mission Board of the South- 
ern Baptist Convention. 

Mr. Diaz, a native of Cuba, having received a 
liberal education in the university of Havana, in both 
the academic and medical departments, was estab- 
lished as a successful physician in his native island. 
His natural heroism and enthusiasm led him to 
identify himself with the insurgents against Spanish 
rule in Cuba, among whom he rose to the rank of 



THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 67 

captain ; but with the temporary defeat of that 
movement he was compelled to escape to America. 
No other means of fleeing offering he was obliged 
to leave his native shores with the simple support 
of a plank. He narrowly escaped drowning, but 
after twenty-six hours of drifting was taken up by 
a fishing vessel and carried to New York City, 
where an illness from pneumonia came upon him. 
In the hospital he was cared for by a devout Chris- 
tian woman, by whose means he was led to a knowl- 
edge of the Saviour. After the rebellion was over 
and amnesty proclaimed, Mr. Diaz returned to 
Havana, but was rejected by his family, and soon 
again returned to America, where he was baptized 
in the Gethsemane Baptist Church, Brooklyn. He 
first applied to the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society to send him back as a missionary to Cuba, 
but his request was declined for lack of funds, and 
he was accepted as a missionary by the Woman's 
Bible Society, of Philadelphia, and returned to 
Cuba in 1883. His work, however, was soon 
transferred to the Home Mission Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention, under which it has 
been mainly continued. A large number of con- 
verts rewarded his early labors and in 1889 the 
Jan6 Theatre, of Havana, was purchased for mis- 
sion work at a cost of sixty-five thousand dollars, 
the original cost being one hundred and forty thou- 
sand dollars, and was dedicated as the Gethsemane 
Baptist Church. This has been the center of a 



68 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

work of remarkable extent and interest, between 
two and three thousand members being gathered 
into the Gethsemane Church and its branches. The 
work also extended to other parts of Cuba outside 
of Havana, and it was reported at one time that 
there were as many as twenty native missionaries, 
seven churches, and twenty stations. 

The success of the work excited the hostility of 
the Roman Catholic bishop and priests, and Mr. 
Diaz, as well as several other of the missionaries, 
were imprisoned at various times, but were soon 
released on application to the United States Consul. 
During the war between Spain and Cuba, Mr. 
Diaz was prominent in the establishment of Red 
Cross stations for the care of the wounded of each 
army. He was, however, imprisoned, and released 
only on his promise to leave the island ; but after 
the intervention of the United States in behalf of 
the Cubans he was appointed on the staff of the 
commanding general, and rendered great service as 
an interpreter. Since the war and the release of 
Cuba from Spanish rule Mr. Diaz has returned to 
his native island. The missionary work was com- 
pletely disorganized during the two successive wars, 
but is now being re-established. By agreement 
between the Home Mission Board of the Southern 
Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society the island of Cuba is divided, the 
Southern Board retaining the west part of the island, 
including the city of Havana, and the towns which 



THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 69 

have been the theatre of its previous successful work, 
and the Home Mission Society taking as its fields 
the two eastern provinces and Porto Rico. Further 
accounts of the work may be found in the appropri- 
ate chapters. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 

THE eleventh triennial meeting of the General 
Missionary Convention held in Philadelphia, 
Pa., in April, 1844, adjourned to meet in due course 
in Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1847, and the thirty- 
first annual meeting of the Board of Managers, 
which was held in Providence, R. I., in April, 1845, 
adjourned to meet in Brooklyn, N. Y., in May, 1846. 
Stirring events caused an early change in this pro- 
gramme. Soon after the meeting of the Board in 
1845 the action of the Baptists of the South in the 
formation of the Southern Baptist Convention be- 
came known, and a special meeting of the General 
Convention was called, which assembled in the city 
of New York, November 20, 1845. At this meet- 
ing a new constitution was provisionally adopted, 
and arrangements were made for obtaining an act 
from the Legislature of Pennsylvania changing the 
name of the Convention to " The American Baptist 
Missionary Union," and also for procuring an act 
of incorporation in the State of Massachusetts under 
the same title. At an adjourned meeting of the 
Convention held in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 19, 1846, 
the Acting Board reported that these measures had 



THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 71 

been secured, and the Convention adopted the fol- 
lowing resolutions : 

Resolved, That this Convention do now accept the Act 
of Incorporation granted by the Legislature of Pennsyl- 
vania, March 13, 1846, entitled "An Act changing the 
name of the Association known as 'The General Con- 
vention of the Baptist Denomination in the United 
States for Foreign Missions and other important objects 
relating to the Redeemer's kingdom,' to that of 'The 
American Baptist Missionary Union,' and for altering 
and amending the charter of the same," and that the 
same be recorded on the records of the Convention. 

Resolved, That this Convention do now accept an Act 
of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, passed March 25, 1846, entitled "An Act to 
authorize the General Convention of the Baptist Denom- 
ination in the United States for Foreign Missions and 
other important objects relating to the Redeemer's 
kingdom, to take and use the name of 'The American 
Baptist Missionary Union,' and to define more clearly 
the purpose, rights, and powers of the said Corporation," 
and that the same be recorded on the records of the 
Convention. 

The Convention then adjourned to meet on the 
following Thursday, May 21, for organization under 
the new constitution and name, when the following 
preamble and resolution were adopted : 

Whereas, In pursuance of the recommendation of the 
committee on legal questions in their report accepted by 
the General Convention at its evening session, on Thurs- 
day, November 20, 1845, in the city of New York, cer- 
tain resolutions in said report, numbered five and six, 



72 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

were adopted by said Convention ; and Whereas, Such 
resolutions predicate that a certain constitution at such 
time conditionally adopted, and a certain organization 
and election of managers then conditionally made, 
should become unconditional and definitive on the pro- 
cural of certain legislative acts ; and, further, Said reso- 
lutions provide for a transfer in such case of all books, 
records, property, rights, interests, and duties, from said 
Triennial Convention to the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union ; and Whereas, Such legislative acts have, by 
the blessing of Divine Providence, been procured ; there- 
fore, 

Resolvnl, That in as far as such transfer may be now 
necessary, the transfer be and hereby is made, to the full 
extent recommended in such fifth and sixth resolutions; 
that the constitution adopted conditionally, be and here- 
by is adopted unconditionally and definitively ; that the 
election then made conditionally be now regarded as un- 
conditional, and the persons so elected take office from 
this time. 

Undismayed by the loss of the sympathy and help 
of their brethren in the South the Baptists of the 
Northern States took up the work of foreign mis- 
sions with renewed energy and zeal. The receipts 
of the society advanced from eighty-two thousand 
three hundred and two dollars and ninety-five cents 
in 1845, to one hundred thousand two hundred and 
nineteen dollars and ninety-four cents in 1846, and 
continued to average more than fifteen thousand 
dollars in excess of the last years of united action 
until in 1851 they reached the sum of one hundred 
and eighteen thousand seven hundred and twenty- 



THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 73 

six dollars and thirty-five cents, and thereafter never 
fell below one hundred thousand dollars, except in 
1857, the year of the greatest financial depression 
this country has ever known, and in 1861 and 1862, 
the opening years of the Civil War. When the for- 
eign mission activity of the Southern Baptist Board 
is considered also, it will be seen that the separation 
of the Baptists of this country, however much to be 
deplored in other respects, acted as an incentive 
rather than a check to their missionary efforts. 

Much of the credit for the large receipts of the 
Missionary Convention under its new name, the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, must be ac- 
corded to Edward Bright, d. d., the corresponding 
secretary for the Home Department from 1846 to 
1855. Appreciating the vast responsibility which 
the Baptists of the Northern States had assumed in 
undertaking practically the entire support of the 
foreign missionary work as already established, he 
perceived the necessity of more systematic and reg- 
ular methods of increasing the interest and gather- 
ing funds than had hitherto prevailed. Up to this 
time the natural response of the Baptists of America 
to the impulse of obedience to the last command of 
the Saviour, " Go ye into all the world and preach 
the gospel to every creature," had been sufficient to 
supply and sometimes run beyond the needs of the 
missions. Doctor Bright understood clearly that the 
partial impulse of enthusiasm aroused by the new 
sense of responsibility thrown upon the Baptists of 



74 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

the North would not be sufficient to carry on and 
enlarge the missions as their increasing needs would 
demand. He therefore applied himself vigorously 
to the inauguration of systematic plans of benefi- 
cence and thorough arrangements for the conduct 
of the home work of the Missionary Union. His 
papers presented at the annual meetings of the 
Union indicated wise and prudent foresight and a 
clear understanding of the fundamental principles 
of Christian benevolence. These papers are still 
classics on the subject of the development of mis- 
sionary interest and giving among the home churches, 
and the methods which he inaugurated and the prin- 
ciples upon which they were founded have had an 
abiding influence upon the home work of the Union 
which continues even to the present time. 

Previous to the withdrawal of the Southern Bap- 
tists from the General Missionary Convention, a 
movement had started in Burma which was des- 
tined to have a profound and lasting influence not 
only upon the future of the missionary work in that 
country, but upon Christian missionary operations 
throughout the world. In the itinerancy of mission- 
aries and native preachers from Rangoon through- 
out the Bassein district an extraordinary interest 
in Christianity had been aroused, and a leading 
native chief having become a convert had also 
become a leader and inspirer of his people in the 
movement toward Christianity. Rev. Elisha L. 
Abbott had been first designated to the Telugu mis- 



THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 75 

sion in India, but was assigned to the Karen mission 
while on the voyage out with Doctor Malcom and 
his company. He entered into this movement with 
great vigor. As usual in such cases, the Burman 
Government, which had viewed with comparative 
indifference the small beginnings of the mission, 
now became roused as hundreds of the Karens 
turned toward Christianity, and it instituted most 
vigorous measures for the suppression of this new 
movement, which to the ignorant Burman officials 
seemed to threaten the overthrow not only of 
their religion, but even of their political power. 
Hundreds of the Karens were imprisoned, killed, 
and driven from their homes, and the measures 
against the preaching of the gospel by the mission- 
aries and native preachers were so vigorously en- 
forced that it was found impossible to carry on 
direct missionary work in the district. Under these 
circumstances Mr. Abbott arranged to meet some of 
the leaders of the Karens in Sandoway, in the Ara- 
kan district, which was under the rule of the British 
Government. To him here came not only the 
leaders, but many thousands of the Karen Christians, 
with others who were inquiring the way of life. 
As many as two thousand were baptized in a single 
year, and the movement became not merely an im- 
migration of a small scattered body of disciples, but 
the migration of a people driven from the Burman 
dominions into the province of Arakan. The entire 
depopulation of the Bassein district was threatened, 



76 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

and at last the Burman officials, finding themselves 
defeated, and alarmed at the prospect of the loss of 
so many thousands of their subjects, abandoned their 
persecution and permitted the converts to return 
and dwell in peace at their homes. Under these 
more favorable conditions the movement toward 
Christianity still continued with power, and the 
headquarters of the mission were removed from San- 
doway, in Arakan, to Bassein, in 1852. This became 
the center of and gave the name to the great Bassein 
Sgaw-Karen Mission, which has always stood first 
among the missions in Burma in numbers and in 
self-support. As early in the history of the mission 
as 1849, the native preachers adopted a resolution 
that they would not receive any further money 
from America, and this rule has prevailed in the 
mission to the present day. So that the Bassein Ka- 
ren mission not only became the foremost mission 
in self-support, but its influence has gone abroad 
and been felt upon every mission field throughout 
the world, and has been to the present day the 
chief illustration and example of the possibility and 
benefit of self-support, self-direction, and self-prop- 
agation in Christian missions. Mr. Abbott was 
succeeded in the mission by Rev. John S. Beecher, 
Rev. Henry L. Van Meter, Rev. Chapin H. Car- 
penter, and others fully in sympathy with the prin- 
ciples early prevailing in the mission, and under 
the leadership of these and other men these methods 
and principles have continued to the present time. 



THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 77 

The enlargement of missionary operations in 
Burma had for some time indicated the propriety 
of some common methods in the missionary work, 
and this great necessity was accentuated by the 
result of the second Burman war, by which, on De- 
cember 20, 1852, the whole province of Pegu, com- 
prising the larger part of lower Burma was declared 
a portion of British territories in the East. By 
this event the largest and most populous territory 
in lower Burma was thrown open to missionary 
operations, and the executive committee of the Union 
at once appropriated fifteen thousand dollars for en- 
larged operations. For consultation with the mis- 
sionaries in regard to the enlargement, and also to 
attempt to settle certain questions which had been 
under consideration for some years, a deputation 
consisting of Solomon Peck, d. d., the corresponding 
secretary of the Missionary Union for the Foreign 
Department, and James N. Granger, d. d., of Provi- 
dence, R. L, sailed from America in October, 1852. 
To meet the deputation a general convention of all 
the missionaries in Burma met in Moulmein, April 
4, 1853, and continued its sessions for six weeks. 
All the conditions of missionary labor in Burma 
were fully considered, and the measures adopted at 
this convention have had a profound and decisive 
influence upon missionary operations in that country. 
As a result of these deliberations three new stations, 
Henzada, Toungoo, and Shwegyin, were opened in 
1853, followed by the establishment of a station at 



78 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Prorae in 1854, and one at Thongze in 1855. By 
this advance movement the newly opened territory 
was fully occupied, as far as centers of influence 
were concerned, and no further stations were opened 
in Burma for a period of twenty-one years. The 
policy of centralization, which had begun to prevail 
in the mission, was thoroughly broken up by this 
distribution of the missionary force among the old 
and new stations, and while some of the decisions of 
the convention, especially in regard to schools, have 
necessarily been modified by the results of experi- 
ence, yet this convention must be considered as one 
of the most important and influential events in the 
history of the Baptist missions in Burma. 

Under the stress of the commercial depression of 
1857, the income of the Missionary Union was re- 
duced to ninety-seven thousand eight hundred and 
eight dollars and seventy-seven cents, as given in 
the Annual Eeport for 1858, and only two years 
passed before the country was plunged into the ex- 
citement and distraction which culminated in the 
dreadful Civil War of 1861-1865. In common 
with all charitable and religious enterprises, except 
those connected with the war, the Missionary Union 
suffered greatly in the loss of income and inter- 
est. The energies of the people of the whole United 
States were directed to the prosecution of the strug- 
gle between the North and the South in a contest 
unparalleled in the vast expenditures of money and 
of life. The funds and the sympathies of the 



THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 79 

charitable were largely absorbed in support of the 
Christian and the Sanitary Commissions, for the 
care and comfort of the soldiers, and the income of 
the Missionary Union dropped to a lower figure 
than it had touched since 1845, being ouly eighty- 
four thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars 
and ninety-three cents in 1861, and eighty-five 
thousand one hundred and ninety-two dollars and 
twenty-six cents in 1862. It is not surprising to 
find that on none of the mission fields was there 
any notable advance during these years of financial 
dearth. However, the receipts of the society rap- 
idly recovered to one hundred and three thousand 
nine hundred and fifty-six dollars and uinety-six 
cents in 1863 and rose in 1865 to the highest 
mark attained in its history, one hundred and 
fifty-two thousand six hundred and eighty-five 
dollars. Since that time the growth of the in- 
come of the society has been rapid and steady, pass- 
ing two hundred thousand dollars in 1870, three 
hundred thousand dollars in 1882, four hundred 
thousand dollars in 1890, and reaching a normal 
annual average of above five hundred thousand 
dollars previous to 1900. Under the stimulus 
of this large and liberal support and by the 
blessing of the Lord, the missions of the society 
on all the fields have experienced a like rapid 
growth, and although standing the eighth among 
the large missionary societies of the world, in the 
amount of its annual receipts and expenditures, the 



80 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

American Baptist Missionary Union has long been 
first in the number of Christians in the churches on 
its mission fields, and its work has been blessed 
with surprising success, as will be related in connec- 
tion with accounts of Baptist missions in the various 
countries of the world. In 1910 the name of the 
society was changed to "The American Baptist 
Foreign Mission Society." 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 

IT is deeply significant to note that as the foreign 
missionary movement had been the source of 
the first general denominational society among the 
Baptists of the United States and of the establish- 
ment of the first educational institution looking to 
all the Baptists of the country for support, so the 
leaders in foreign missions were among the first to 
assist in founding the second national Baptist so- 
ciety. The first two names signed to the call for a 
meeting to form " The Baptist General Tract So- 
ciety," were William Staughton, the corresponding 
secretary, and Luther Bice, the general agent of the 
Baptist Missionary Convention. This meeting was 
held at the house of Mr. George Wood, in the city 
of Washington, D. C, February 25, 1824, and re- 
sulted in the organization of a society under the 
above name " for the publication and distribution of 
evangelical tracts." Mr. Wood was chosen the first 
agent, and the depository was in the office of " The 
Columbian Star," first in charge of Mr. John S. 
Meehan, and later of Mr. Baron Stow, then a stu- 
dent in Columbian College and afterward widely 
known as pastor in Boston, Mass., and as a member 

F 81 



bZ AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

\ 

of the executive committee of the Missionary Union 
for many years. The society at once received a 
cordial welcome from the denomination. Its receipts 
for the first year were three hundred and seventy- 
three dollars and eighty cents, and in the first ten 
months of its existence eighty-five thousand copies 
of nineteen tracts were printed and distributed. 
The next year the receipts were doubled and the 
number of auxiliaries increased to seventy-one. In 
order to avail itself of larger facilities for printing, 
the society was removed in December, 1826, to the 
city of Philadelphia, where it has since remained, 
the name being changed in 1840 to "The American 
Baptist Publication and Sunday-school Society." 
For the sake of brevity the words " and Sunday- 
school" were afterward dropped without a change 
in the purposes of the society, and later as the Bible 
work of the whole denomination in the United States 
came into its hands the title was made to read, "The 
American Baptist Publication and Bible Society." 
This addition was also shortly cancelled, and the 
title remains as at the head of this chapter. 

Although the chief objects of the Society were the 
publication and circulation of religious, and espe- 
cially of Baptist, literature in the United States, it has 
throughout its entire history afforded large and gen- 
erous aid to Baptist missions in other lands. In 
1832 an appropriation was made to print tracts in 
the Burmese language for use in the missionary 
work in Burma, and another for supplying Christian 



AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 83 

literature to the Negro Baptist missionaries in Li- 
beria. In 1838, among the special objects which 
the society had in view were the republication of 
the life of Ann H. Judson, the publication and dis- 
tribution of tracts in Germany, and the raising of a 
fund of ten thousand dollars for the publication of 
Christian literature for China. These objects were 
not immediately attained, but they indicate the 
breadth and extent of the ideas of the management. 
The year 1847 was especially marked by the exten- 
sion of the work of the society abroad, grants of 
money and of Christian literature being recorded to 
twelve foreign fields — Canada, France, Africa, China, 
Burma, the West Indies, Germany, Denmark, Swe- 
den, Assam, Greece, and South America. In Ger- 
many the aid of the American Baptist Publication 
Society had been especially useful. Tracts furnished 
by the society had a large influence in confirming 
and establishing the great founder of the German 
Baptist mission in his views, and the grants of tracts 
made to him were freely and effectively used in 
spreading the knowledge of Baptist principles and 
practices throughout the German States of central 
Europe. After the death of Doctor Oncken and in 
a special emergency in the German mission, his suc- 
cessor, Philip Bickel, D. D., was sent out and sus- 
tained for six years by the society. The formation 
and prosperity of the German Baptist Publication 
Society is due in no small degree to the example, aid, 
and inspiration of the American society. 



84 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Other countries of the continent of Europe also 
felt the helpful and uplifting influence of the society. 
In Sweden especially was its work fundamental and 
important. On reading some of the Baptist litera- 
ture scattered broadcast throughout central and 
northern Europe by Doctor Oncken, Rev. Andreas 
Wiberg, a minister of the Lutheran Church in Swe- 
den, was led to adopt Baptist views. His applica- 
tion to the American Baptist Missionary Union for 
appointment as a missionary was declined, and in 
1855 Mr. Wiberg was appointed a missionary col- 
porter by the Publication Society. This change 
seemed to be providential. In Sweden, preaching 
not in accord with the teachings of the State Lu- 
theran Church was at that time forbidden, but the 
press was free. As a missionary pastor or evangelist 
Mr. Wiberg would have encountered the ban of the 
law, but as a missionary colporter and translator he 
was technically within his legal rights. A large 
work was done by him for the spread of Baptist 
views in Sweden, second only to the phenomenal 
labors of Doctor Oncken in the German States, and 
when the Swedish mission was turned over to the 
Missionary Union in 1866 it could report after only 
eleven years of labor, one hundred and seventy-six 
churches, with six thousand six hundred and six 
members. From 1882 to 1885 the Publication So- 
ciety supported Rev. Jonas Stadling as a missionary 
in Sweden. By this aid Baptist publication work 
in Sweden was established on a firm basis. 



AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 85 

As the literature sent out from Germany had been 
the means of opening the way for Baptist missionary 
work in Sweden, so the influence of Swedish Baptist 
literature passed over into the sister State of Nor- 
way, a country which also felt the effects of the Bap- 
tist movement in Denmark, being thus the meeting- 
place of two currents of truth which harmoniously 
blended into one. In 1900 the American society 
undertook to do for the Baptist cause in Norway 
what it had already done for the missions in Ger- 
many and Sweden. A Publication Society's secre- 
tary is to be supported until the Baptists of Norway 
are well established in publication work and able to 
assume its entire support. From 1872 to 1877 Rev. 
W. C. Van Meter was supported by the American 
Baptist Publication Society as a Sunday-school and 
evangelistic missionary in Rome, Italy. Large 
amounts of Christian literature have been supplied 
to the Baptist missions in France and Spain, and 
whenever opportunity has offered the Society has 
not been wanting in willingness to assist Baptist 
work in Europe along its special lines. 

Somewhat aside from its usual methods was the 
mission in Turkey, sustained through the Publica- 
tion Society from 1883 to 1891. For several years 
previous to the opening of this work great pressure 
had been brought to bear on the American Baptist 
Missionary Union to open a mission among the 
Armenians of Turkey in Asia. Several Armenian 
ministers, formerly connected with missions of other 



86 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

denominations, had visited America and been re- 
ceived into Baptist churches in New York City and 
elsewhere, and there was a desire on the part of 
many to send them back as missionaries to their 
own people. As the Missionary Union did not see 
its way clear to open a new mission in Turkey, the 
Publication Society agreed to become the medium 
through which those wishing to support these mis- 
sionaries in Turkey could transmit funds, but as- 
sumed no responsibility beyond the amounts contrib- 
uted specially for this purpose. Five missionaries 
were thus maintained for several years until in 
1891 the mission, interest in which had been de- 
clining from various causes, was discontinued. In 
other foreign fields, however, the society has been 
an efficient and active helper to the missionary 
work. The aid of the society was a large factor in 
founding and encouraging the Telugu Baptist Pub- 
lication Society in India. 

Grants of Bibles, of literature, and of money 
have been numerous on nearly all the mission fields 
where Avork is carried on by the Missionary Union ; 
and since the great Bible Convention of 1883, by 
special agreement between the Union and the Pub- 
lication Society, the latter has become the chief 
agency in the collection of funds for Bible work 
from Baptists in America, sharing a proportion of 
the receipts of the annual "Bible Day" with the 
Union, and also with the Foreign Mission Board 
of the Southern Baptist Convention. From time 



AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 87 

to time also grants are made from the general funds 
of the society. 1 

Colporters have been supported in Mexico, which 
has also been visited by one of the six "chapel 
cars/' which carry on so useful and successful a 
work under the auspices of the Publication Society. 
Eev. A. J. Diaz, at first connected with the Home 
Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 
during the war between Spain and the United 
States, in 1898, labored in Mexico, and after the 
close of the war returned to Cuba and labored for 
a time under the direction of the Publication So- 
ciety. This Society has been and must continue to 
be the chief supplier of Bibles and Christian litera- 
ture to Baptist missionaries in these latest conquests 
of the United States, as well as in Mexico and the 
home States. 

1 See " Bible Societies and American Baptists," Bitting, Amer- 
ican Baptist Publication Society. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST HOME MISSION SOCIETY 

THE influence of the foreign missionary move- 
ment on the development of Baptist interests 
at home was seen in the formation of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society. While the General 
Missionary Convention itself was formed by the 
union of a large number of local missionary socie- 
ties, some of which were engaged in carrying on 
home mission work, and while the Convention took 
up work among the Indians and attempted other 
home mission work as well as educational work in 
this country, it was soon found that the entire ener- 
gies of the Convention were needed for the main- 
tenance and enlargement of the foreign mission 
work. Therefore its educational work was placed 
upon an independent basis and the missionary work 
in this country was more and more committed to 
local societies. A growing conviction was felt 
among the Baptists of America as to the need of en- 
larged mission work at home, and this was crystal- 
lized by the visit of Jonathan Going, d. d., of Wor- 
cester, Mass., to the West. On his representations 
to the Massachusetts Missionary Society steps were 
taken toward a united and enlarged effort for domes- 



AMERICAN BAPTIST HOME MISSION SOCIETY 89 

tic missions. The deputation appointed to consult 
with the New York Baptist Missionary Convention 
consisted of Daniel Sharp, d. d., pastor of the Charles 
Street Church, Boston, a prominent member of the 
Foreign Mission Board, Lucius Bolles, d. d., cor- 
responding secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, 
and Jonathan Going, D. D. Their representation 
met with a cordial response from the New York 
brethren and a provisional committee was formed, 
which resulted in the calling of a general meeting 
in the Mulberry Street Church in 1832, for the 
formation of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society. 

It is interesting to note that this meeting was 
appointed during the meeting of the General Mis- 
sionary Convention, and that Convention gave up 
one of its sessions for the formation of the Home 
Mission Society. The first president of the Home 
Mission Society was the Hon. Heman Lincoln, of 
Boston, chairman of the Executive Board of the 
Foreign Mission Union for many years. 

At this first meeting it was proposed that the 
work of the society should be limited to the United 
States, but finally the Home Mission Society adopted 
as its field North America, and since that time 
its motto has been, "North America for Christ." 
However, the limits of the United States furnished 
an ample field for its labors in all the early years 
of its history. As early as 1836 the attention of 
the society was called to Texas and Mexico as com- 



90 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ing fields for missionary effort, Texas being then an 
independent republic, and anticipations of work on 
these fields were cherished by the society. It was 
not, however, until 1862 that missionary work in 
Mexico was inaugurated. As the result of the con- 
version of Mr. Thomas M. Westrup, a young mer- 
chant of Monterey, and the active efforts of Rev. 
James M. Hickey, of Matamoras, the First Baptist 
Church of Monterey was organized January 30, 
1864, being the first Baptist church established in 
Mexico. Obstacles were encountered in persecution 
from the Catholic authorities and from other sources, 
and Mr. Westrup was not appointed a missionary 
of the society until 1870. Before Mr. Westrup 
left Mexico, however, in 1869, there were six con- 
gregations with about one hundred and twenty 
members. On account of the lack of funds and 
heavy responsibilities in the limits of the United 
States the society discontinued its appropriations in 
1876, but resumed them in 1881 by the reappoint- 
ment of Mr. Westrup as a missionary at Monterey, 
and soon after the principal headquarters of the 
mission were established in the city of Mexico, the 
capital of the republic. 



CHAPTER X 

THE AMEEICAN BAPTIST FREE MISSION SOCIETY 

THE American Baptist Free Mission Society was 
a result of the agitation regarding the subject 
of slavery, which began in 1840. There was formed 
in the year 1843 by some Baptists who were dis- 
satisfied with the attitude of the Managing Board of 
the General Convention, " The American and 
Foreign Missionary Society," on the basis of the 
following principles : 

A separation from all connection with the known 
avails of slavery in the support of its benevolent pur- 
poses, the sovereignty of all the churches over their own 
missionary organizations and the representative character 
of the latter, the rejection of titles of distinction in the 
ministry, such as "Doctor of Divinity," and an uncom- 
promising opposition to all oath-bound, secret brother- 
hoods, as being thoroughly opposed to the genius of 
Christianity and the republican government. 

Later the name was changed to " The American 
Baptist Free Mission Society," and in consequence 
of certain differences of opinion between the exec- 
utive committee of the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union and its missionaries, the further principle 
was added to the platform of the Free Mission 

91 



92 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Society, "That Christian missionaries are the serv- 
ants of Christ and not of man/' the society an- 
nouncing itself to be only a channel through which 
the churches might conveniently do their appro- 
priate work of evangelization. "The American 
Baptist " was established as the organ of the society 
upon the above principles, the first editor being 
Rev. Wareham Walker. Rev. Albert L. Post, of 
Montrose, Pa., was for many years president of the 
society and a leader in its affairs throughout its 
entire history. Missions were maintained for a few 
years in Hayti, in the West India Islands, and in 
Africa, but its most important work outside of the 
United States was in connection with the missions 
in Burma. 

Some of the decisions of the convention held in 
Moulmein, in 1853, in connection with the visit of 
the deputation from America, were not agreed to by 
several of the most important missionaries in Burma ; 
especially from the restrictions which were placed 
upon the establishment and conduct of the school 
work, they felt obliged to dissent. As the decisions 
of the convention and deputation were upheld by 
the executive committee of the Missionary Union, 
these missionaries, with the missions conducted by 
them, withdrew from connection with the Mission- 
ary Union. This division continued for seventeen 
years in the case of the Rangoon Sgaw-Karen mis- 
sion, and for thirteen years as to the Bassein Sgaw- 
Karen mission. During this interval the missionaries 



AMERICAN BAPTIST FREE MISSION SOCIETY 93 

conducting these missions were sustained by contribu- 
tions of the natives, assisted by independent contri- 
butions from this country, the American contributions 
being sent to Burma chiefly through the agency of 
the American Baptist Free Mission Society. 

Rev. Nathan Brown, missionary of the Union in 
Assam, had sympathized with the missionaries of 
the Rangoon and Bassein missions in their attitude, 
and on his return to America, in 1855, felt obliged 
to resign his connection with the society. Becom- 
ing acquainted with the Free Mission Society he 
found its principles to be in accord with his own 
views, and in 1859 became editor of its organ, 
"The American Baptist," and also the correspond- 
ing secretary of the society, a position which he 
occupied until 1872. This society had the honor 
of establishing the first Baptist mission work in 
Japan by the appointment as missionary of Rev. 
Jonathan Goble, who had visited that country as a 
seaman in the fleet under the command of Commo- 
dore Perry. The society supported Messrs. Brown 
and Goble for several years, but in 1872 all causes 
of differences which had led to the formation of the 
Free Mission Society having passed away, the work 
of that society was transferred to the American 
Baptist Missionary Union, and Mr. Brown and Mr. 
Goble were appointed as its missionaries. The 
Japan mission at that time was the only work 
carried on under the auspices of the Free Mission 
Society, and by the offer of the Japan mission to 



94 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

the American Baptist Missionary Union, and its 
acceptance by that society and the appointment of 
its only missionaries as missionaries of the Union, 
the termination of the work of the American Baptist 
Free Mission Society came about, which by this 
action transferred all its salaried officials and all its 
rights to the American Baptist Missionary Union. 
A nominal corporate existence was continued for the 
purpose of holding bequests and funds which must 
otherwise have been lost, but the last annual meet- 
ing, being the thirty-second anniversary, was held 
in Franklin Hall, Jersey City, June 12, 1875, 
Rev. John Duer, being corresponding secretary and 
William Howe, Esq., 77 Baldwin Avenue, Jersey 
City, N. J., treasurer. The organization and ex- 
istence of the American Baptist Free Mission So- 
ciety, like that of the American and Foreign Bible 
Society and the American Bible Union, thus became 
a historical waymark of the existence of certain con- 
troversies among the members of the Baptist denom- 
ination, which passed away with the lapse of time 
and in a clearer light, a better understanding, and 
perhaps a larger liberty among the members of the 
denomination. 



CHAPTEE XI 

woman's baptist missionaey societies 

HEATHENISM bears heaviest on woman. The 
ignorance, the superstition, the physical deg- 
radation, and the spiritual darkness which are the 
accompaniment of all forms of paganism, woman 
shares equally with man; but in every heathen land 
she is weighed down with an additional social deg- 
radation which makes her lot vastly more full of 
anguish and terror than is the portion of her hus- 
band and brothers. Heathenism is everywhere a 
religion of force and fear. Might is the only right, 
and in the struggle for existence woman as the 
weaker sex bears the heaviest burdens. There is 
no form of heathenism, however some of its pre- 
cepts may be exalted by would-be admirers from 
Christian lands, which suggests anything substantial 
in alleviation of the lot of woman. In at least one 
of its features, the cardinal principle of Hinduism, 
explained by the Brahman as "the sacredness of the 
cow and degradation of woman," is common to all 
heathenism. Christianity is the only religion which 
exalts woman to her true position as the equal asso- 
ciate and helpmeet of man. 

It was the increasing recognition of these truths 



96 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

which led to the formation of the first woman's mis- 
sionary societies. In all the earlier years of our 
Baptist foreign missions the women in the churches 
were among the most ardent and efficient workers 
and contributors to the enterprise. In many churches 
the work of the collection of funds had been largely 
left to them. There came a time, however, when 
many of the most earnest and devoted friends of 
missions among the women of the churches felt 
pressing upon them more heavily the special and 
urgent needs of their sisters in heathen lands. The 
sentiment gradually crystallized until it resulted in 
the formation of separate foreign missionary soci- 
eties for women. Not that it was proposed that the 
women of the churches should separate themselves 
from the general societies, but it was hoped that by 
separate organization, while still continuing their 
efforts and gifts on behalf of the general work, 
special funds might be raised for woman's work for 
women in heathen lands, without encroaching upon 
the income of the general societies. This sentiment 
led to the formation, in 1871, of the Woman's Bap- 
tist Foreign Missionary Society, with headquarters 
in Boston, and The Woman's Baptist Foreign Mis- 
sionary Society of the West, with headquarters in 
Chicago. It was not at any time proposed that 
these societies should be entirely independent of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, but that they 
were to be auxiliary, and while the missionaries to 
be supported by the woman's societies were to be 



WOMAN'S BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETIES dl 

selected and recommended, and the funds they should 
gather designated by them, the appointment of the 
missionaries was to rest with the executive committee 
of the Missionary Union, and all the funds of the 
woman's societies, with the exception of those for 
home expenses, were to pass through the treasury of 
the Union and be disbursed as the gifts of the women 
had been heretofore. 

As a movement among women, the formation of 
these societies has been a great success, both societies 
having had a large growth and been very success- 
ful in the raising of funds. While it cannot be 
said that they have wholly avoided diversion of 
moneys from the general funds of the Missionary 
Union, it is still undoubtedly true that the special 
efforts of the woman's societies have largely increased 
the contributions of the women in our churches for 
foreign missions over the natural increase that might 
have been expected without these agencies. The 
increase of the funds of the woman's societies has 
been in larger proportion than that of the general 
funds of the Missionary Union, and as their funds 
have been devoted especially to school and evangel- 
istic work among women it has been thought to 
have led to a disproportionate increase of these 
branches of mission work in contrast with the gen- 
eral evangelistic work of the missions. In later 
years a larger proportion of the funds of women has 
been designated to general work, so aiding directly 
the principal feature of the missionary enterprise. 



98 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

The success of the woman's societies with head- 
quarters in Boston and Chicago, led to the formation 
of the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society 
of California, in 1875, and the Woman's Baptist 
Foreign Missionary Society of Oregon, in 1878, for 
similar work among the women of the Baptist 
churches on the Pacific coast. Kecognizing the pos- 
sibility of undue development of school and evan- 
gelistic work among women the society of California 
took the new departure of assuming the full support 
of a missionary and his wife, Rev. and Mrs. J. H. 
Scott, in Osaka, Japan. This suggestive initiative 
has had an influence upon the other woman's soci- 
eties. Woman's foreign missionary societies have 
also been organized in Pennsylvania, Michigan, 
Ohio, and other States, but they are entirely sub- 
sidiary to the other societies — that in Pennsylvania 
to the society with headquarters in Boston, and those 
in Michigan, Ohio, and the Western States to the 
Woman's Society of the West. The fields of the 
four woman's societies, organized as auxiliary to the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, are entirely 
conterminous with those of the Union itself. Each 
society has the privilege of taking up work in any 
of the fields of the Union, and of engaging in any 
portion of the work which may commend itself 
especially to the managers of the societies. The 
Boston and Chicago societies are carrying on work 
in all the fields on which the missionaries of the 
Union are engaged, while the society of California 



woman's baptist missionary societies 99 

has hitherto limited its efforts to Japan. The Ore- 
gon society has had missionaries in India. 

Stimulated by the action of these sisters in the 
Northern States the Baptist women of the South 
began to be inspired by a desire for more aggressive 
and independent action on behalf of missions. In 
their organization, however, they were able to learn 
lessons of value from the experience of the Northern 
societies, and owing somewhat also to the closer and 
more vital church life of the Baptist churches in the 
Southern States the Woman's Missionary Union, or- 
ganized in 1888 as auxiliary to the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention, is more strictly identified with and 
subordinate to the Convention, and their relations 
to the general society are more intimate than those 
of the woman's societies in the Northern States with 
the Missionary Union. While having a special in- 
terest, of course, in the evangelization of women in 
heathen lands, the Woman's Missionary Union aux- 
iliary to the Southern Baptist Convention in its 
constitution defines its purpose to be : 

1. To distribute missionary information and stimulate 
effort, through State Central Committees, where they 
exist ; and, where they do not, to encourage the organ- 
ization of new societies. 

2. To secure the earnest, systematic co-operation of 
women and children in collecting and raising money for 
missions. 

It will thus be seen that the women of the 
Southern Baptist churches limit their special and 



100 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

separate endeavors to the spread of missionary in- 
formation and interest among the churches, and that 
the funds raised by them are wholly and without 
special designation devoted to the general purposes 
of the work of the Mission Boards. 

All these societies, as well as the Women's Home 
Mission Societies hereafter named, hold their inde- 
pendent annual meetings and have a full organiza- 
tion and a full complement of officers. 

Inspired by the same general impulses there was 
formed in 1877 the Women's Baptist Home Mission 
Society, having its headquarters in Chicago. In this 
case, however, the organization is entirely independ- 
ent of the general missionary societies of the Baptist 
churches, while working on the same general lines 
and for the same purposes. This society has estab- 
lished a Missionary Training School in Chicago, 
where women missionaries are trained for both home 
and foreign missionary work. Naturally its chief 
work has been within the limits of the United 
States, but aside from this it has maintained mis- 
sionaries in Mexico since 1886, and has already in- 
augurated missionary eifort for the more lately 
opened missionary fields of Porto Rico and Cuba. 

In the same year the Women's American Baptist 
Home Mission Society, with headquarters in Boston, 
was organized for work in needy fields in North 
America. This society, however, is auxiliary to the 
American Baptist Home Mission Society, through 
the treasury of which all its funds are disbursed, 
with the exception of the expenditures for Alaska, 



woman's baptist missionary societies 101 

official salaries, and for some miscellaneous work. In 
addition to educational work for girls in the South 
and other mission work, this society has taken as its 
special field, missionary work in Alaska, where it has 
assumed the full support of missionary families for 
general evangelistic work. It has also established 
an excellent work on Wood Island in an orphan- 
age for the children of the Indians. This has at- 
tracted great interest and has commended itself, not 
only because of the needy field which it occupies, 
but by the usefulness of its work, which embraces 
not only Christian education for the children but 
training in many features of industrial work. 

While, as above stated, it cannot be claimed that 
the woman's societies have entirely avoided encroach- 
ment on the fields and funds of the general societies, 
this has not been due to the intention or efforts of 
the management of the societies, but to certain nat- 
ural and inevitable tendencies connected with any 
special or partially disconnected work, and they have 
unquestionably made good their claim to a large in- 
crease of missionary interest and effort among the 
women of our churches all over the land. 

In 1910 the "Woman's American Baptist Home 
Mission Society," with headquarters in Boston, 
Mass., united with the " Woman's Baptist Home 
Mission Society," having its headquarters in Chi- 
cago, the latter society then taking the name of the 
former, the "Woman's American Baptist Home 
Mission Society." A branch office of the society 
is still maintained in Boston. 



CHAPTER XII 

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 

BURMA, the earliest, and for many years the 
only, foreign mission field of American Bap- 
tists, has always retained a peculiar hold upon the 
interest and affections of the Baptist churches of 
this country. While beginnings of missions had 
been made in Siam, China, Assam, and Southern 
India, previous to the formation of the Southern 
Baptist Convention in 1845 and the consequent 
division of the missionary work of the Baptists of 
the United States, yet these beginnings were so small 
as not to have obtained a firm grasp upon the interest 
of the people at that time, and Burma was then, and 
continues to be, in a peculiar sense, the well beloved 
mission child of all the Baptists of this country, 
North and South. The nature of the country and 
its peoples furnishes a just basis for the deep and 
abiding interest which has been felt in missions in 
that country. Although now but one of the prov- 
inces of the British Empire in India, when Baptist 
missions were begun in Burma by Adoniram and 
Ann Hasseltine Judson, in 1813, it was entirely 
under the rule of a savage king, and their enter- 
prise was the first attack made by Christian mis- 

102 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 103 

sionaries on the native kingdoms of the East. Carey 
and his companions were located in the Danish set- 
tlement in Serampore, and Swartz and others of the 
earliest missionaries in India had also been under 
the protection of civilized governments. The pecu- 
liarly heroic character of the assault of the Judsons 
on the notoriously savage and cruel native kingdom 
of Burma, was recognized by their missionary asso- 
ciates in India and made a deep impression upon 
the whole Christian world. 

When American Baptists began their foreign 
missions in Burma, it was then as now a country 
of extraordinary fertility and productiveness. Great 
progress, whether commercial or Christian, was im- 
possible under native rule. But the successive con- 
quests of the English and the annexation to their 
dominions of Arakan and Tenasserim in 1826, of 
Pegu in 1854, and of all Upper Burma in 1885, 
have gradually opened the entire country to civil- 
ization, commerce, and the free and uninterrupted 
labors of Christian missions, and Burma is to-day 
recognized as the most prosperous and most prom- 
ising province of British India. Wages are more 
than three times as high as in the peninsula of 
Hindustan across the bay of Bengal, and the inter- 
nal resources of Burma are increasing with remarka- 
ble rapidity. Although the population numbers 
but little more than eight millions, and from this 
point of view it might seem to oifer only a minor 
field for missionary effort, yet the variety of races 



104 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

and languages represented, numbering as many 
as forty-seven, and their relations to the peo- 
ples of the surrounding countries, India, Assam, 
China, Tonking, and Siam, vastly enlarge the 
importance of Burma as a field for Christian mis- 
sions. The additional fact that it is also the strong- 
hold of Buddhism, as well as the residence of many 
animistic tribes, makes Burma the religious key to 
southeastern Asia. 

In this extraordinarily and exceptionally attractive 
country Baptists have from the first found an ample 
and encouraging field for missionary effort, and they 
have cultivated it with such assiduity that the num- 
ber of Christian missionaries in proportion to popu- 
lation has always been greater in Burma than in 
any other foreign mission field, and the success of 
the Baptist mission has been so great as to lead 
other religious bodies to leave this field largely to 
the Baptists. In recent years a few missionaries of 
the English Wesleyan and American Methodists 
have located at some points in Burma, and the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, repre- 
senting the High Church element of the Church of 
England, has sustained missionaries there, but aside 
from these the entire responsibility for giving the gos- 
pel to Burma has devolved upon American Baptists. 

Just previous to the separation of American Bap- 
tists into two foreign missionary organizations in 
1845, the labors of Judson and his associates, alluded 
to in the earlier chapters of this volume, had begun 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 105 

to bear abundant fruit. The work of Rev. Justus 
H. Vinton among the Karens of Rangoon district 
had been greatly blessed. During the prevalence 
of a famine, Mr. Vinton, after distributing all the 
rice in his storehouses, had pledged his personal 
credit to the rice merchants for a large quantity, 
and freely distributed it, not only among the starving 
Christians, but among the heathen who applied. 
As afterward among the Telugus at Ongole, this 
action paved the way for the gospel. Mr. Vinton 
in his tours among the people was everywhere wel- 
comed as " the man who saved our lives," aud the 
gospel which he preached was freely received by 
those whose hearts had been opened by gratitude 
for material blessings. Hundreds were baptized, 
and the Rangoon Karen mission, the headquarters 
of which were then located on the premises which 
they still occupy in the Kemendine district of Ran- 
goon City, was started on that career of prosperity 
which continued in succeeding years, and which 
placed the mission second in numbers in Burma. 
The remarkable religious interest among the Karens 
in Southwestern Burma, first centered at Sandoway 
across the mountains in Arakan, had grown in num- 
bers and in self-reliance, so that in 1849 the Karen 
pastors of Bassein, where the headquarters of the 
mission had then been located, resolved to relin- 
quish all assistance from mission funds and to rely 
wholly upon their churches for support. In 1850 
a Karen Home Mission Society was formed in 



106 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Bassein, and in 1854 a similar society among the 
Karens of Rangoon, for missionary work among 
their own people, these being, it is believed, the 
first two societies of the kind ever formed in heathen 
lands. The practice of entire self-support, then 
inaugurated by the Bassein Karens, has prevailed 
in that mission to the present day, and the work at 
the same time has experienced large spiritual pros- 
perity, so that it stands first in point of numbers 
among the missions in Burma, and has been an 
illustrious example of self-support, self-management, 
and liberality to Christian missions in all heathen 
lands. On May 16, 1878, fifty years after the 
baptism of the first Karen convert, Kothahbyu, 
the Bassein Karens dedicated the Kothahbyu Me- 
morial Hall for the use of the Sgaw-Karen Normal 
and Industrial Institute. The cost of this building 
was twenty-two thousand dollars, and for the build- 
ing and its endowment the Bassein Karens raised at 
that time more than thirty-one thousand dollars, a 
record seldom if ever equalled by any Christian 
community in heathen lands. The Rangoon Karens, 
with the assistance of English residents of Rangoon 
and friends in America and England, also erected a 
fine chapel called " Franc's Chapel," — from the fact 
that the first gift to the chapel was a five franc 
piece from a poor woman, — which furnished accom- 
modations for their school and religious worship on 
the mission compound in Rangoon. 

With the rapid increase in the number of con- 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 107 

verts, the pressing importance of education, and es- 
pecially of training religious leaders for the people, 
was early pressed upon the attention of the mission- 
aries. In 1838 a Burman theological school was 
started by Edward A. Stevens, d. d., which after 
his death was continued by A. T. Kose, d. d., and 
later incorporated as the Burman department of the 
theological seminary at Insein. The Karen Liter- 
ary and Theological Institution was organized in 
1846, in Moulmein, by J. G. Binney, D. d., and was 
afterward removed to Rangoon as the Karen Theo- 
logical Seminary, and later to Insein, nine miles 
from Rangoon, where the scope of the seminary was 
enlarged in 1894 to include the training not only 
of Karens, but Burmans, as above noted, and of 
Christian preachers and pastors for all the races of 
Burma. The Rangoon Baptist College, for the 
higher education of young men of all races in Burma, 
was begun in 1872 by Doctor Binney, who also con- 
tinued at the same time to be the president of the 
theological seminary. Associated with him in the 
early work of the college were John Packer, d. d., 
afterward for many years president of the college, 
and Rev. Chapin H. Carpenter, who, however, soon 
removed to the care of the Karen work in Bassein, 
with which his labors in Burma were principally 
identified. 

Connected with the removal of Mr. Carpenter to 
Bassein was the first use of the Atlantic cable for 
Baptist mission purposes. Rev. B. C. Thomas had 



108 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

been compelled to leave Bassein, where he had worn 
himself out in the service of the mission, and had 
died in New York City but one day after reaching 
America. The question of the leadership of the great 
Bassein Sgaw-Karen mission was pending, and the 
executive committee of the Missionary Union con- 
sidered the matter at a special meeting held Oct. 
26, 1867, and sent this message by cable to the 
Missionary Convention assembled iu Rangoon : 
"Carpenter transferred to Bassein, and Smith to 
Rangoon." The message was delivered in three 
days after leaving Boston and produced a profound 
impression on the missionaries in Burma. It was 
recognized as the beginning of a new era in the con- 
duct of missionary work. When four months were 
required for the quickest communication between 
the missionaries and the official headquarters of the 
Union, even the most important questions were de- 
layed in settlement oftentimes to the serious injury 
of the work. Now that the time of question and 
answer was reduced to a few days, as later to a few 
hours, a new ease and facility in the adjustment of 
all missionary questions was afforded. 

An important feature of the missionary work in 
Burma in all its stages has been the printing press, 
which, starting from the small hand press used by 
Felix Carey, and afterward given by the Serampore 
mission to the American Baptist mission for the use 
of Rev. George H. Hough, the associate of Judson, 
has increased to the large establishment now known 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 109 

as the American Baptist Mission Press in Rangoon. 
From the Baptist Mission Press in Burma four 
complete editions of the Bible have been issued. 
The Burman Bible, translated by Adoniram Judson, 
was put to press in Moulmein in 1840 by Rev. S. 
M. Osgood, afterward agent of the Missionary Union 
in New York City. He also printed there a second 
edition of the same work. The Tavoy and Moul- 
mein presses were afterward united and removed to 
Rangoon, where they have remained to the present 
day. Here was printed in 1853 the translation of 
the Bible in Sgaw-Karen made by Rev. Francis 
Mason, the translation of the Bible into Pwo-Karen 
by Rev. D. L. Bray ton in 1883, and the Shan Bible 
by J. N. Cushing, d. d., in 1891. Many editions 
of the New Testament and portions of Scripture 
in these languages have also been issued from the 
mission press, as well as portions of Scripture in 
four or more additional languages and dialects of 
Burma. " The Religious Herald," a Burman paper 
started in 1842, and "The Morning Star," in 
Karen, begun in 1843, have been issued from this 
press continuously from the beginning, as well as 
millions of tracts and many Christian books for the 
use of the growing Christian community in Burma. 
It is the only printing press in the world which has 
facilities for printing in several languages used by 
many millions of people. The name longest connected 
with the press is that of Rev. Cephas Bennett, who re- 
tired in 1881, after fifty years' service as superinten- 



110 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

dent. He was succeeded by Mr. Frank D. Phinney, 
under whose efficient management the work of the 
press has been greatly enlarged, employing in 1900 
about one hundred and thirty persons in all depart- 
ments. Lately a fine building has been erected. 

By the conclusions of the Moulmein Convention^ 
held in connection with the deputation from the 
Missionary Union in 1853, the Karen missionaries 
felt themselves to be aggrieved, and Rev. Justus 
H. Vinton, Rev. Durlin L. Brayton, Rev. Norman 
Harris, and Rev. John S. Beecher, as well as Rev. 
A. T. Rose, of the Burman Department, resigned 
their connection with the Missionary Union. The 
separation continued in the case of the Bassein 
Karen mission for thirteen years, and of the Ran- 
goon Karen mission for seventeen years. During 
these years the missionary work was carried on 
without interruption on botli these fields, the mission- 
aries and various departments of the work being 
supported by the contributions of the Karens, by 
the liberal contributions of the English residents of 
Rangoon, who in the year 1857 gave as much as 
sixteen thousand and thirty-nine rupees, and by re- 
mittances from friends in England. American con- 
tributions for the missions were forwarded, as has 
been stated, through the American Baptist Free 
Mission Society, the secretary of which, Nathan 
Brown, d. d., sympathized with the missionaries 
and the reasons which led them to withdraw from 
the Missionary Union. The misunderstandings 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 111 

which led to the separation having passed away, the 
Bassein mission was reunited with the Union and 
the other mission work in Burma in 1867, and the 
Rangoon Karen mission in 1871, and the mission- 
aries cordially resumed their connection with the 
society and their co-operation with the other brethren 
in Burma. The points of difference were especially 
in regard to the establishment and conduct of local 
schools and the measure of individual liberty which 
was to be accorded to the missionaries. In the 
light of clearer understanding of the needs and best 
methods of missionary work all differences on these 
points have been removed. 

In 1855 there were nine Baptist mission stations 
in Burma : Rangoon, Moulmein, Tavoy, Bassein, 
Henzada, Toungoo, Shwegyin, Prome, and Thongze, 
all of which except the first four had been opened 
since 1853, in consequence of the deliberations of 
the Moulmein Convention. From this time for 
twenty-one years no new mission stations were 
opened in Burma ; but with the centers already es- 
tablished large progress continued to be made, es- 
pecially in the Rangoon, Bassein, Henzada, and 
Toungoo Karen missions, which continued to be 
the strongest and most prosperous departments of 
labor in the Burman missions, the Rangoon and 
Bassein missions having two departments, the Sgaw- 
Karen and Pwo-Karen, Avhile the two tribes of 
Karens in the Henzada district remained in union 
in their Christian work. At Toungoo two principal 



112 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

divisions exist, that among the Paku and the Bwe- 
Karens. The Sgaw and the Pwo are the principal 
tribes of the Karens, being about equally divided 
in number, the Pwos being more nearly allied in 
habits and custom to the Burmans, while the Sgaw- 
Karens are more primitive in their manners, less 
affected by Buddhism, and have received the gospel 
more largely than any other division of the Karen 
people or any other race in Burma. 

During the years previous to 1876 the missionary 
work was strengthening and extending on all the 
fields in Burma preparatory to a rapidity of expan- 
sion similar to that which had been experienced in 
1853, 1854, and 1855. In 1876 two stations were 
opened, at Tharrawaddi among the Karens and at 
Zigon among the Burmans, and the next year a 
mission was begun by J. N. Cushing, D. D., at 
Bhamo, eight hundred miles north of Rangoon, in 
Upper Burma, with the design of reaching the 
Shans and tribes on the borders of Western China. 
For several years the Bhamo mission had a check- 
ered history, having a rapid succession of mission- 
aries; at one time the city was taken by marauding 
bands of Chinese robbers and the missionaries were 
compelled wholly to retire from the field. With the 
capture of Upper Burma by the English in 1885, 
the mission in Bhamo was permanently re-estab- 
lished, and there the missionaries have continued 
their labors among the Burmans, the Shans, and the 
Kachins, with peculiar success among the last- 



AMEEICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BUKMA 113 

named people. The war between the English and 
Thebaw, the last king of Burma, was brought on 
by the interference of the king with the operations 
of the British-Burma Lumber Company, whose 
business he had agreed to foster and protect. As 
in the previous wars with the English, the Burmans 
entered upon this contest with perfect confidence in 
their speedy success ; but their army was defeated 
at the first assault, and in December, 1885, Manda- 
lay, the capital, was captured with King Thebaw and 
his cruel and bloodthirsty queen, Soopayalat. The 
victory over the Burman army was an easy task for 
the British, but the pacification of the country 
proved far more difficult. The Burman soldiers 
formed themselves into bands of marauders, or da- 
coits, and hiding in the depths of jungle fastnesses, 
by sudden raids, robberies, and murder, kept the 
whole country in turmoil and fear. British soldiers, 
even though natives of India, found it impossible to 
follow these bands to their hiding-places, and made 
little progress in bringing them into subjection even 
after gaining the victory, having the same experience 
as the American army operating in later years under 
similar conditions in the Philippine Islands. These 
circumstances afforded opportunity for one of the 
most remarkable displays of the political benefits 
of Christian missions which history has supplied. 
Moved by distrust, the English government had de- 
creed that no native of Burma should be allowed to 
carry arms. After a time some of the missionaries 



114 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

obtained permission for the Karens in their churches 
to keep firearms to protect their villages from the 
dacoits, the missionaries becoming responsible for 
the good conduct of their converts. These Karens 
pursued the robber bands to their secret retreats in 
the jungle, captured their leaders and dispersed the 
bands of dacoits with such success that the govern- 
ment itself at once established a force of Karen 
military police, largely composed of Christians, and 
by this body was effected in a few months what the 
British army had vainly striven to accomplish — 
the complete pacification of Burma. For this serv- 
ice the government gave the Christian Karens and 
their leaders the warmest praise. 

For convenience, the headquarters of the Ran- 
goon Pwo Karen mission were removed to Maubin 
in 1879, the extension of facilities for travel having 
rendered possible residence in the jungle among the 
people. In 1886 the dream of Judson, the pioneer 
of American Baptist missions in Burma, was re- 
alized by the permanent establishment of a mission 
station in Mandalay, the capital of Upper Burma. 
This field included the sites of Ava and Oungpenla 
(Aungbinle), where Judson suffered his terrible im- 
prisonment. It is the chief city of Upper Burma 
and exercises an important influence upon the whole 
territory. The next year was signalized by the 
opening of three new missionary stations, one at 
Thayetmyo, on the Irawadi river, near the boundary 
of Upper Burma, one at Myiugyan, one hundred 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 115 

miles south of Mandalay, and another at Pegu, forty 
miles northeast of Rangoon, on the railroad running 
from Rangoon to Mandalay by the way of Toungoo. 
The succeeding year, 1888, was marked by the 
opening of two mission stations, one at Sagaing, on 
the west side of the Irawadi, fifteen miles below 
Mandalay, and opposite Ava, the scene of Judson's 
imprisonment, which is now included in the field of 
this station. An interesting event of this year also 
was the opening of a mission station at Sandoway, 
the sanitarium of Arakan, and in the earlier years 
of the mission the headquarters of the Bassein Sgaw- 
Karen mission. The new station, however, is for 
work among the Burmans and the Southern Chins, 
the northern being reached from Thayetmyo. The 
next year, 1889, also witnessed the opening of two 
stations, one at Insein, nine miles north of Rangoon, 
where the Baptist theological seminary was then lo- 
cated, and one at Meiktila, the military sanitarium 
of Upper Burma, between Toungoo and Mandalay. 
Mission work among the Shans had hitherto been 
carried on only among the scattered communities of 
this people found in Lower Burma and in Bhamo ; 
but with the complete pacification of the country 
under English rule the time had come to establish 
stations in the Shan territory of the eastern part of 
Burma, and one was opened at Hsipaw (Thibaw), in 
1890, by Rev. M. B. Kirkpatrick, M. d., and another 
at Mongnai (Mone), in 1892, by A. H. Henderson, 
M. d. The next year another Shan station was 



116 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

opened by Rev. W. W. Cochrane at Namkham in 
Upper Burma, about twenty-five miles southeast of 
Bhamo, in a beautiful valley and within one mile 
of the boundary line of China. Myitkyina, north 
of Bhamo, opened in 1894 for missionary work 
among the Kachins, is the most northern station 
in Burma, and this and the new station among 
the Chins, opened in 1899 by Rev. A. E. Car- 
son, near the highway between Burma and Assam 
marks a large advance in the complete occupation 
of Burma by the Baptist missions and the nearer 
approach to the project cherished in the early days 
of the mission, when there should be a complete 
union between the missions in Burma and Assam. 

While the earlier missionary efforts in Burma 
were confined to labors for the Burmans and the 
principal tribes of the Karens, — the Sgaw and the 
Pwo, — in later years they have been extended until 
they included special and distinctive labors for all 
of the forty-seven tribes and peoples represented in 
the limits of Burma who are sufficiently numerous 
to be mentioned in the British census of India, the 
latest mission to be established being work among 
the Chinese immigrants and traders and laborers 
in the city of Rangoon. These extended and com- 
prehensive labors of the Baptists for the peoples of 
Burma have so preoccupied the field that with the 
immense territories in other heathen lands still 
awaiting Christian labors there would seem to be no 
peculiar or pressing opening for the labors of repre- 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 117 

sentatives of other bodies for the polyglot and mul- 
tifarious peoples of Burma. 

The Baptist missions in Burma have been blessed 
with a fruitfulness which can only be compared 
with the extraordinary fertility of its own productive 
soil. In 1900 the members of Baptist churches 
numbered about thirty-five hundred Burmans, and 
thirty-five thousand Karens, with a total church- 
membership of all races approaching fifty thousand, 
and representing a Christian population of half a 
million, occupying the most strategic and influential 
territory of southeastern Asia. From their success- 
ful missions in Burma as a fulcrum, American Bap- 
tists have facilities already provided for reaching 
out in every direction to the varied peoples and 
tongues of all surrounding countries. 

From the earliest years of their history the missions 
in Burma have called for the services of some of the 
ablest representatives of the Baptist ministry in this 
country, and oftentimes the sacrifice of precious 
lives. Adoniram Judson, the founder of the mis- 
sions, died at sea, April 12, 1850, when three days 
out on a voyage from Rangoon ; aDcl many others of 
his companions and his successors in labors have 
passed to their reward after long years of useful 
service for Christ in Burma. The earliest youthful 
martyrs to the missions, Wheelock and Colman, 
have also had their successors, who, after but a few 
months or years, having scarcely entered upon mis- 
sionary service for the people of Burma, have been 



118 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

called to withdraw their strong and youthful hands 
from the plow to join the praises of the redeemed 
in the heavenly country. The mission to the Shans 
has been peculiarly afflicted in this respect, no less 
than three young and promising missionaries, Rev. 
Edwin D. Kelley, Rev. Albert J. Lyon, and Rev. 
Beimet J. Mix, being lost to the mission within a 
few years, when just on the threshold of their work ; 
and the number of those who have passed from earth 
to heaven after service for Christ in Burma com- 
prises an honored roll of heroic spirits, of whom we 
can now think as rejoicing in the presence of the 
Lord with the multitudes of Burmans, Karens, Shans, 
and representatives of other peoples of Burma, re- 
deemed from idolatry and sin and gathered as ripe 
sheaves in the harvest of heaven. As one by one 
these have passed on before, others like them in 
mind and in spirit have been raised up to enter upon 
their labors. 

Among these are many whose fathers and mothers 
gave their lives for the people of Burma. The " Bap- 
tist Missionary Magazine" for January, 1900, gives 
a list of seventeen of these honored sons and daugh- 
ters of venerated parents, who have entered most 
usefully upon the fields and services of their fore- 
bears — in some instances to the second generation. 
There is not only peculiar appropriateness in the 
children following in the footsteps of their fathers 
in missionary labors, but many practical advantages. 
Few natives of America can ever acquire an Eastern 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 119 

tongue so as to speak it with the same facility as a 
native of these countries. Correct grammatical un- 
derstanding of a language may be obtained and 
ability to preach the gospel with clearness, and pos- 
sibly with some force, but few, if any missionaries, 
natives of the West, have ever been able to preach 
the gospel of Christ in any Eastern tongue with 
genuine fluency and eloquence. Children of mis- 
sionaries, however, born in an Eastern land, and 
having acquired some facility in pronunciation of 
the languages while young, even though they may 
have spent years of residence in America for educa- 
tion, on their return to Asia soon acquire an enviable 
facility in the use of the native dialects. Men like 
J. B. Vinton, Edward O. Stevens, and Willis F. 
Thomas have peculiar advantages in missionary 
work for the people among whom they were born, 
both in facility in speech and in familiarity with 
the customs, sentiments, and habits of the people. 

Baptist missions in Burma among all races have 
been advancing with a sure and steady progress 
from year to year. On no other field of American 
Baptist missions has there been gained so much de- 
velopment in all the elements of Christian and 
church life as understood among the churches in 
America. Self-support has become the rule in by far 
the larger number of the fields of Burma. In the re- 
port of the American Baptist Missionary Union for 
1900, of the six hundred and eighty-five churches in 
Burma no less than four hundred and eighty-two were 



120 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

entirely self-supporting, and this satisfactory indica- 
tion of genuine strength and growth of the churches 
of Burma is rapidly increasing from year to year. 
This self-support is supplemented by an encour- 
aging degree of self-dependence and self-manage- 
ment, which has found expression not only in the 
local Associations established on the plan of Bap- 
tist Associations in America, but in the Burman 
Baptist Missionary Convention, organized in 1865. 
This Convention, aside from its usual offices as rep- 
resenting all Baptist interests in Burma, is carry- 
ing on independent missions at its own cost, having 
maintained for several years missionaries to the 
Karens in Northern Siam, as the Bassein Karens 
have sustained several representatives of their own 
among the Kachins in the region of Bhamo, Upper 
Burma. 

This large development of all the substantial 
features of Christian life and growth has made neces- 
sary increased efforts for the training of leaders for 
the Baptists in Burma in their important and grow- 
ing enterprises. Rangoon Baptist College has in- 
creased to an attendance of more than five hundred 
in all the departments. The theological seminar} 7 
at Insein is the largest in Asia, and has grown in 
numbers and usefulness, sending out yearly Burmans, 
Karens, Shans, and representatives of other races, 
in numbers, who become qualified and successful 
leaders of their own people in the work of the 
Lord. In short, in all the elements of an estab- 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN BURMA 121 

lished Christian community, the Baptists in Burma 
have achieved marked success and a satisfactory 
growth, and stand with the Sandwich Islands and 
a few other of the island groups in the Pacific 
Ocean, as the only representatives of fields in 
which foreign missions have shown a near approach 
to the ultimate object of all missionary work, the 
establishment of an indigenous, self-supporting, self- 
managing and self-propagating Christianity. 



CHAPTER XIII 

BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 

A SSAM, the most northeastern province of Brit- 
-^*- ish India, is a territory that is marked by a 
large variety and peculiarity of conditions. While 
the area as ordinarily computed is named at forty- 
nine thousand square miles, the limits of the coun- 
try are indefinite. The central part of Assam for 
the whole length is occupied by the fertile Brahma- 
putra Valley, while both the Himalaya Mountains 
on the north and the ranges of mountains intervening 
between Assam and Burma on the south, offer great 
changes of climate and homes for a large number 
of wild tribes. In its population of five million 
and a half are found almost as great a variety of 
races as in Burma ; but the whole population may 
be roughly divided between the Hindu Assamese of 
the Brahmaputra Valley and the animistic tribes 
occupying the hills to the north and south. In ad- 
dition to these there are coming an increasing popu- 
lation of immigrants from Chota Nagpur and other 
provinces of Central India, who labor in the tea 
gardens. Baptist missionary work in Assam has 
found its field of operations among these three divi- 
sions of people, the greatest success being among 
122 



BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 123 

the animistic people and the immigrants, or labor- 
ers in the tea gardens. 

Sadiya, the first station occupied in Assam, was 
in the extreme northeastern portion of the country. 
This station was soon abandoned on account of the 
turbulence of the people, whose fierceness was be- 
yond the control of the English authorities. Before 
its abandonment, hoAvever, it became "the scene 
of one of the tragedies of our Baptist foreign mis- 
sions. In 1837 Hev. Jacob Thomas was sent as a 
missionary to reinforce the laborers at Sadiya. He 
made the journey by vessel from America to Cal- 
cutta in safety, and the long journey by land and 
river across Bengal and the length of the Brahmapu- 
tra, until within a few miles of Sadiya. The voyage 
of the missionary party up the Brahmaputra was made 
in canoes, and after his long and perilous journey, 
just before arriving at his destination, while the 
canoe was tied to the bank preparatory to rest for 
the night, a tree from a part of the bank which had 
been undermined by the floods, falling across the 
canoe, crushed Mr. Thomas, and this young and 
promising life was ended when just entering upon 
missionary labor. 

After the abandonment of Sadiya, Sibsagor, to 
the southwest, opened in 1841, Nowgong, still 
farther to the southwest, opened the same year, and 
Gauhati, still nearer Bengal, opened in 1843, con- 
tinued to be the centers of missionary work in 
Assam for a period of thirty-three years, with the 



124 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

exception of Goalpara, opened as a station for work 
among the Garos in 1867. This long period, with- 
out any sensible expansion of the work, is a true 
index of the character of the early missionary labors 
in the Brahmaputra Valley. The Hinduized As- 
samese are bigoted in the extreme, and although a 
large amount of persistent and devoted labor has 
been given to their salvation, even at the present 
day but a comparatively small number have been 
won to the gospel of Christ. If it had been only 
among the Assamese that our missionaries labored, 
Assam would have been abandoned as a mission 
field long ago. In 1842 was established by Rev. 
Miles Bronson the Nowgong Orphan Institution, in 
which a considerable number of preachers and other 
laborers among the Assamese were trained, and which 
has furnished nearly all the leading native laborers 
among the missions to the Assamese to the present 
day. Rev. Nathan Brown translated the New Tes- 
tament into Assamese, and others various books of 
the Old Testament, but the completion of the Bible 
was assigned to Rev. A. K. Gurney, who went to 
Assam in 1875 for this special work. In 1889, 
after twenty-four years devoted to this service, the 
translation and revision of the Old Testament and 
also the revision of the New were declared completed 
and ready for publication. Dr. Miles Bronson was 
the author of an Assamese Dictionary, which re- 
mains a useful monument to his long-continued and 
faithful labors for the Assamese. 



BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 125 

As already intimated, the most promising fields 
for missions in Assam have been found among the 
animistic tribes on the hills and the laborers in the 
tea gardens. The first of these tribes to feel the in- 
fluence of the truth in a decided manner was the 
Garos, in the southwestern portion of Assam. These 
were reached from Goalpara, and the first converts 
showed a marked independence and energy in 
evangelistic labors for their fellow-tribesmen. So 
much interest was excited that in 1878 Rev. Marcus 
C. Mason and Rev. E. G. Phillips decided to re- 
move the headquarters of the Garo mission from 
Goalpara to the English government station on the 
Garo Hills, at Tura. This movement proved wise 
and the cause of great prosperity in the Garo mis- 
sion. Messrs. Mason and Phillips were class com- 
panions in their studies in college and in the theo- 
logical seminary. They married sisters in Hamil- 
ton, N. Y., and throughout their missionary life 
have labored in the same fellowship and unity which 
marked their earlier years. Under their leadership 
the Garo mission, with headquarters at Tura, has 
made remarkable progress and proved to be one of 
the most aggressive, self-reliant, prosperous, and 
promising missions of the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union, reporting in 1900 more than four 
thousand church-members. This mission, however, 
is not more noted for its prosperity and increase in 
the number of converts than for the independence 
and self-reliance of the Garo Christians. They 



126 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

have their Associations, organized on the plan of 
the Baptist Associations in America, which are con- 
ducted wholly by the natives, missionaries being 
present simply for interest and occasional advice. 
They not only maintain their own churches, but the 
Associations have their own missionaries who labor 
among their own people, and they are also sending 
out gospel laborers to adjoining tribes. Tura itself 
is a model of what a central missionary station 
should be, having its schools of various grades, with 
industrial features, and a training school for native 
workers, which supplies the virile and vigorous 
Garo churches with preachers and teachers. 

Next in prosperity after the Garo mission comes 
that to the immigrant laborers in the tea gardens of 
Assam. Tea culture in Assam is in a high state of 
development, the teas of Assam being the choicest 
in the world, and this commercial enterprise in the 
Brahmaputra Valley is rapidly extending. The 
successful extension of this business calls for a large 
number of new laborers, who are brought in from 
the central provinces of India, principally from 
Chota Nagpur. These people in their early homes 
have become somewhat familiar with Christianity 
from the missionaries of the Gossner Society, of Ger- 
many, and being little affected by Hinduism, and 
having a religion similar in its nature to that of 
the animistic tribes in the hills of Assam, they 
proved ready and willing hearers of the gospel 
and have been received into the churches in 



BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 127 

large numbers. The Gologhat station, the most 
recently opened field among them, received one 
hundred and seven members into the church in 
the first year of its existence, 1898 ; hundreds 
also have been baptized in connection with the mis- 
sion at Sibsagor by Rev. C. E. Petrick, and the 
work at JTorth Lakhimpur, on the north side of the 
river, under Rev. John Firth, and among the same 
people, is rapidly extending. 

The successful work among the large and power- 
ful Naga tribes in the southern hills of Assam was 
inaugurated by Rev. E. W. Clark, who in 1875 re- 
solved to abandon the comparatively fruitless work 
among the Assamese and devote himself especially 
to work for the Naga tribes. Mr. and Mrs. Clark, 
with remarkable heroism, established themselves at 
Molung in 1876, far in advance of the farthest out- 
posts of the British government and among a com- 
paratively wild and uncivilized and presumably 
savage people. They were, however, received with 
cordiality, and with one or two exceptions have been 
exposed to little peril from their savage surround- 
ings. Their long and persistent labors have been 
rewarded by the conversion to Christianity of almost 
the entire people of the village of Molnng, where 
there is now the largest and most prosperous church 
in the Naga mission. For various reasons the head- 
quarters of the mission were removed a few years 
ago to Impnr, where a training school for native 
Nagas was opened by Rev. S. A. Perriue in 1898. 



128 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

A station among the Nagas was also opened, in 1881, 
at Kohima, the headquarters of the English govern- 
ment among the Angami Nagas, and later, in 1896, 
a station among the Tangkul Nagas was founded by 
Rev. William Pettigrew at Ukrul, Manipur. Both 
Kohima and Ukrul are on or near the high road 
between Assam and Burma, Ukrul being only about 
one hundred and fifty miles north of the most re- 
cently opened station at Haka, among the Chins of 
northwestern Burma. The establishment of these 
stations points to an early and intimate union of the 
Baptist mission work in Burma and Assam. 

The success of the work among the Garos, Nagas, 
and other animistic tribes of the hills, encouraged 
the establishment of missionary work among other 
tribes of this same class of people. Rev. Penn E. 
Moore, brother of Rev. Pitt H. Moore, long the 
leading missionary in the work for the Assamese in 
Nowgong, with Rev. J. M. Carvell, established a 
work among the Mikirs to the south of Nowgong, 
about 1895. The Garo Baptist churches are send- 
ing missionaries to a neighboring tribe called the 
Rabhas, for whom the old Garo station at Goalpara 
has recently been reopened by Rev. A. E. Stephen. 
The Garos have also sent a missionary to labor 
among the tribes to the north of the Brahmaputra. 
From past experience and present success mission- 
ary labor in Assam will be directed chiefly to these 
simple animistic tribes, who are more ready to re- 
ceive the gospel than the bigoted Hindu Assamese. 



BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 129 

An extremely interesting development of later 
missionary work in Assam appeared in the opening 
of a mission station in Dibrugarh ; in the extreme 
northeast of Assam, as a center for work on the same 
field occupied by the first missionaries, who chose 
Sadiya as their headquarters. The British govern- 
ment has now established itself so that labors in this 
region are pursued with entire safety, and the 
growth of the tea industry and mining operations 
and the development of oil wells in this region 
has made it one of the most prosperous in Assam, 
in a commercial sense, and one of the most interest- 
ing for missionary work. The reoccupation of north- 
eastern Assam also brings toward an early realiza- 
tion the dream of the first missionaries in Assam, 
that the Brahmaputra Valley might prove a highway 
for the gospel of Christ to Western China and 
Tibet. Both of these territories are within com- 
paratively easy reach of the latest opened missionary 
station at Dibrugarh. 

Owing partially to the diversity of interests rep- 
resented in the missions, but more to the slow prog- 
ress of the work in its earlier years, the literary, 
educational, and church development of the missions 
in Assam has far from equaled that accomplished 
in the missions in Burma during the same length of 
time. Aside from Dr. Bronson's Dictionary, the 
translation of the Bible already referred to, and a 
hymn book in Assamese, the missions in the Brah- 
maputra Valley have accomplished little along 



130 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

literary or educational lines. A paper in Assamese, 
called the "Orunodoi," started in 1846 for the 
benefit of the native Christians, was discontinued 
after a number of years. In the Garo mission, how- 
ever, more advancement in literature can be re- 
corded. The " Achini Ripeng," or " Garo Friend," 
founded by Messrs. Mason and Phillips, in 1876, 
the year of removal to Tura, has continued, and 
has been a source of great helpfulness in the mis- 
sionary work and in the enlargement of the intelli- 
gence and activity of the Garo Christians. The 
church life among the Garo Christians is also dis- 
tinctly in advance in independence and self-reliance 
as well as self-support, of the older churches of the 
valley. The schools in the Garo Christian villages 
are entirely independent of mission support, and 
furnish, with the central boarding and training 
schools at Tura, a complete course of education and 
training for the teachers and preachers needed in 
the Garo mission. The recently rapidly growing 
churches among the Nagas also have shown great 
independence, liberality, and self-reliance — qualities 
in which the churches among the tea-garden labor- 
ers are yet lacking, although these are advancing 
rapidly in point of numbers. According to the 
common opinion of the missionaries in all depart- 
ments of the work in Assam, the great need of the 
missions is a central training or biblical school for 
preparing pastors and leaders for the Christian 
churches of all races within the limits of Assam. 



BAPTIST MISSION WORK IN ASSAM 131 

The rapid increase in numbers in the tea-garden 
churches in the valley, the Garo churches, and 
the Naga churches on the hills, point to this central 
educational institution as an imperative necessity. 
By the prosperity of the missions among the Garos, 
the Nagas, and the tea-garden laborers, in recent 
years, the character of the missions in Assam has 
been transformed, and the years of discouragement 
changed into a future bright with hope. 



CHAPTER XIV 

BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 

THE American Baptist mission among the Telu- 
gus of Southern India is universally regarded 
as one of the miracles of modern missions. Its his- 
tory is a story of the most striking contrasts and 
the greatest successes. The story of the mission 
may be divided into three periods. First, the long 
years of faithful labor with little fruit, from the 
beginning of the mission in 1836, when Nellore 
was the only station— the "Lone Star" of the 
Telugu mission. Second, the gradual growth of 
the mission, from the establishment of Ongole, 
the second station, in 1866, to December 31, 1876, 
when there were four thousand three hundred and 
ninety-four converts ; and third, the era of Pente- 
costal blessings following the great ingathering after 
the famine of 1877 and continuing to the famine 
of 1900. 

The founding of the work among the Telugus is 
one of the romantic stories of our missionary history. 
After the death of the Rev. James Colman, of Ar- 
akan, referred to in the earlier chapters of this vol- 
ume, Mrs. Colman spent some years in Calcutta 
as a teacher and in religious work, and was after- 

132 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 133 

ward married to Rev. Amos Sutton, a missionary of 
the English Baptist mission in Orissa. In 1835 
Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were on a visit to her relatives 
in America, and Mr. Sutton took occasion to be 
present at the meeting of the Baptist General Mis- 
sionary Convention held in Richmond, Virginia. 
For the first time in its history the Convention found 
itself with a surplus of funds in the treasury, and Mr. 
Sutton's address in which he called attention to the 
needs of the Telugu people to the south of Orissa 
received immediate response. The next year, Rev. 
Samuel S. Day went out to India and became the 
founder of the American Baptist mission among the 
Telugus. After a brief sojourn at Vizagapatam and 
Chicacole, and a longer stay at Madras, he located 
the permanent headquarters of the mission at Nel- 
lore, in February, 1840, where he was joined by 
Lyman Jewett, D. d., in 1848. For a long time the 
Telugu people proved unresponsive to the faithful and 
diligent labors of the missionaries. All the usual 
methods of missionary work were pursued with 
diligence but with scant success. The gospel was 
faithfully preached by the missionaries and the 
native helpers they had gathered about them in all 
the district round about Nell ore, and the evangelistic 
tours extended even as far north as Ongole. 

So small was the encouragement in the number 
of converts gained in the mission that, in 1848, the 
question of the abandonment of the Telugu mission 
was raised at the annual meeting of the Union in 



134 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Troy, N. Y. The feeling of opposition to the mis- 
sion continued to grow until, at the annual meeting 
held in Albany, N. Y., in 1853, it found decided 
expression. At this meeting the abandonment of 
the mission, or rather its transfer to the more prom- 
ising field of Burma, across the bay of Bengal, was 
earnestly advocated in a long discussion by many of 
the ablest leaders in the denomination. It was at 
this meeting that the historic phrase, the "Lone 
Star," was coined as applied to Nellore, the single 
station of the Telugu mission. After many argu- 
ments for the transfer of the mission, one speaker, 
presumed to be Edward Bright, D. D., then the home 
secretary of the Missionary Union, pointing to the 
map, declared that he would never write the letter 
calling for the blotting out of the "Lone Star" on 
the map of India. The name fixed itself upon the 
mind of Samuel F. Smith, d.d., the author of " Amer- 
ica," and in the night he penciled on some stray 
sheets of paper he happened to have by him the 
famous poem, " The Lone Star." The poem was 
read in the meeting of the Union the next morning ; 
but already the tide had turned and it was resolved 
to continue the Telugu mission. The number of 
converts not increasing, however, again the opposi- 
tion to the mission arose at the annual meeting in 
Providence, in 1862, and after discussion it was re- 
solved to await the arrival of Rev. Lyman Jewett, 
then on his way to America. After Doctor Jewett's 
arrival, upon meeting the executive committee, 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 135 

the situation was placed before him, and his reply 
was, that whatever the executive committee or the 
Missionary Union did, his determination was never 
to abandon the Telugus. The reply of Jonah G. 
Warren, d. d., then foreign secretary of the Union, 
was equally historic : " Well, Brother Jewett, if you 
are resolved to return to India, we must send some 
one with you to give you a Christian burial in that 
heathen land." So the Telugu mission was not 
only continued, but reinforced. 

On the first Monday in January, 1854, was held 
one of the most celebrated prayer meetings in the 
history of Christian missions. It was attended by 
only five persons, Doctor Jewett, Mrs. Jewett, 
Christian Nursu, a native preacher, and two Chris- 
tian Bible women, Julia and Ruth. The meeting 
was held on top of a hill overlooking the village of 
Ongole. A heathen temple adorned the slope of 
the hill and below them stretched the large village, 
as yet utterly given over to heathenism. Each of 
the five earnestly prayed in turn for a missionary 
for Ongole. Mr. Jewett' s faith arose to the height 
of believing that the prayers would be answered, 
and pointing to a lovely and sightly spot, as yet en- 
tirely overgrown with cactus, he said : " Julia, 
would not that be a good place for a mission house ?" 
That was the spot on which the house of the first 
missionary to Ongole was situated. In April of that 
same year Mr. James Wilkins was sent from Nel- 
lore to take up government work in Ongole. He 



136 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

chose this very spot for which prayer had been 
made and built a house upon it. When he was 
transferred from Ongole his house passed into other 
hands. In 1860, Lieutenant Lugard, a Christian 
officer appointed to Ongole, took tea with Mr. Jewett 
at Nellore. When he arrived at Ongole he bought 
this house, and on leaving the place the next year 
he notified Mr. Jewett that he could have it for 
fifteen hundred rupees. Mr. Jewett borrowed five 
hundred rupees to pay the cash required and wrote 
to Mr. Reuben Wright, a gentleman living in the 
West and an old schoolmate of Mr. Jewett's in 
Worcester Academy, for help. Mr. Wright sent 
the balance needed for the purchase of the house. 
So the prayers oifered on Prayer Meeting Hill, as 
it has long been known, began to be answered. The 
complete answer came in 1866. 

In 1864, just as the American Baptist missions 
were entering upon the second half-century of their 
existence, a young man from Iowa presented him- 
self to the executive committee of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union as a candidate for ap- 
pointment as a missionary. The impression which 
he produced at first was not the most favorable. 
As he was leaving the committee room after re- 
lating his Christian experience and call to mis- 
sionary labor, Doctor Baron Stow asked him what 
he would do if the committee should not decide 
to send him as a missionary to India. His modest 
but firm reply, was, " Then I must find some other 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 137 

way to go." The committee decided to appoint 
him, and the result of this appointment was the 
securing of John E. Clough to the American Bap- 
tist Telugu mission in India. There were certain 
indications of special providence in the connection 
of Doctor Clough with this mission. First, he was 
born the same year in which the mission was estab- 
lished. God raised him up at the same time that 
he organized the mission, and through the long 
years of its slow progress he was gradually reaching 
man's estate and obtaining his preparation for mis- 
sionary work. Secondly, he had some acquaintance 
with civil engineering before going as a missionary, 
and so was prepared to take the contract for digging 
four miles of the Buckingham Canal, by which he 
was enabled to save the lives of many thousands 
during the great famine of 1876-1877. Thirdly, his 
eminent executive abilities were such as to keep 
everything in the completest order and efficiency 
when the converts began to come into the mission 
in such multitudes. 

The story of the famine and the great ingathering 
among the Telugus of the Ongole District in India 
is one of the most thrilling of Christian history. 
It has often been related, but even at the risk of 
repetition cannot be omitted from such a work as 
this. The following account was taken down from 
the lips of Doctor Clough himself during one of his 
visits to America: 

In July, 1876, the usual southwest monsoon, 



138 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

which sprouts and waters the young rice crop, failed 
entirely, and also the northwest monsoon in October. 
All now saw that a famine was inevitable, and word 
was sent to England and America, and to every 
place from which aid could be expected that unless 
help was received many thousands of the people 
must perish. Generous responses were received, 
and the starving Telugus were carried on till the 
next June when they were furnished with seed 
grain, and their fields planted. But no sooner was 
the young crop fairly up than a long rain came on, 
and all the rice rotted in the ground. Again was 
seed grain furnished for the October monsoon, and 
the growing crop gave promise of a harvest when 
clouds of locusts came, obscuring even the sun at 
noonday and the crop was again destroyed before 
the hungry eyes of the helpless people. But help 
was received from every quarter, and through the 
committees and sub-committees of the relief fund 
food was distributed and the lives of the people 
saved. 

One of the measures of relief adopted by the 
government was the construction of the Buckingham 
Canal from Madras to a point near Ongole, which 
furnished employment to thousands of Telugus and 
enabled them to keep themselves and their families 
from starvation. Doctor Clough took the contract 
for the construction of four miles of this canal. He 
sent couriers throughout all the Ongole district to 
tell the people that there was plenty of work for 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 139 

all, and that he would see that they were well 
treated, and all who could not work should be cared 
for, so the people came by thousands to his camp 
on the line of the canal. The native Christian 
preachers he appointed overseers in the work. Each 
had his appointed number of laborers, and when they 
were not at work the preacher read the Bible to 
them and taught them of the gospel. After gain- 
ing a little strength and money some would return 
to their homes, and others would come in their 
places, so that while the camp contained perhaps 
six thousand people at a time, the population was 
constantly changing, and many times that number 
became familiar with its blessings before the work 
was finished and the famine ended. In all this 
time none were received into the church, although 
many applied for baptism. On Christmas morning, 
1877, Doctor Clough awoke to find the mission 
compound at Ongole filled with a multitude of two 
thousand three hundred persons, who had come to 
him to ask to be baptized, but he declined to re- 
ceive them, fearing they were moved by a desire to 
obtain help in their distress, rather than by a sin- 
cere love for the truth. 

In June, 1878, after the fourth distribution of 
seed grain was planted, word was sent through all 
the district that the people must care for them- 
selves, the people of England and America could 
do no more. And now that the Telugus could ex- 
pect no more aid from him as chairman of the re- 



140 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

lief committee, Doctor Clough thought he might 
begin to baptize those who were applying. He told 
the preachers to give him the names of the most 
important men in the villages, of heads of families, 
whom they believed to be true Christians, and these 
to the number of about three hundred were sum- 
moned to Ongole, and after proper examination, 
baptized. A few days after, about three hundred 
more, having heard of the baptism of the others, 
came in and, with the same preliminary care, were 
received. Doctor Clough now began to see that it 
would be necessary to take more adequate measures 
to deal with the wonderful work which God was 
evidently doing among this people. He, therefore, 
sent each preacher to his field with instructions to 
carefully examine all who desired baptism, and call 
a limited number to meet him on a certain day at 
Vilumpilly, on the banks of the Gundalacuma 
River, north of Ongole, but not to let a large multi- 
tude of the people come. The morning after his 
arrival there, to his astonishment, Doctor Clough 
found the fields about his bungalow filled with a 
multitude of people who had disregarded the com- 
mands of the preachers, and although still weak 
from the effects of the famine, had come, many of 
them, long distances to claim the privilege of put- 
ting on the Lord Jesus in his appointed way. Then 
was the Scripture fulfilled, " The kingdom of heaven 
suffereth violence and the violent take it by force." 
Each preacher was told to gather the people from 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 141 

his field about him under the shade of a particular 
tamarind tree, and soon in "God's first temples" 
forty or more inquiry meetings were in progress, 
superintended by the missionary passing from one 
to another. July 1, the careful examinations 
were all completed, and the names of those con- 
sidered prepared for baptism taken down and handed 
to Doctor Clough. 

At Vilumpilly the government road from Ongole 
to Hyderabad crosses the Gundalacuma River, 
whose banks rise precipitously about twenty feet 
above high water mark. The macadamized road 
slopes down through the bank from about one hun- 
dred and fifty yards aM r ay from the river to the bed 
of the stream, which is nearly dry in the dry season. 
It was now high water and the stream backed up 
into the cut made for the road, with its hard and 
sloping bottom forming a natural baptistery un- 
surpassed for convenience and fitness. Early in the 
morning the people gathered on the sides of the cut 
above the road. Two preachers descended the slop- 
ing bed of the road into the water, two clerks on 
each side the cut called the names of the candidates 
in order, and thus, first one preacher baptizing a 
candidate and then the other, the holy work pro- 
ceeded from six in the morning till ten in the fore- 
noon. The preachers were relieved by two others 
every hour, so that they might not become weary 
or chilled, and thus all the six ordained native 
preachers connected with the Ongole mission were 



142 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

permitted to have a part in this marvelous scene. 
At two in the afternoon the baptizing was resumed, 
and between five and six o'olock in the evening all 
was done. Two thousand, two hundred and twenty- 
two persons had been baptized in a single day, July 
3, 1878, only two persons administering the ordi- 
nance at one time, and all was done decently and in 
order. Thus was forever disproved the argument 
that it was impossible for three thousand to be im- 
mersed in a day as related in the Acts of the Apos- 
tles. All the circumstances being considered, it 
must be confessed that this was the most wondrous 
scene which the church of Christ has ever witnessed 
since the day of Pentecost. Some of the monks and 
bishops of the Middle Ages may have baptized 
larger numbers in a single day, but they are not 
supposed to have been genuine spiritual converts, 
carefully examined before reception, as were these, 
and the firmness and consistency with which these 
Christians have since maintained their profession 
has proved how thorough and careful was the work 
of the preliminary examination. 

But this was not the end. Doctor Clough called 
Mr. Williams, of Ramapatam to his aid, and the one 
to the West and the other to the North, they jour- 
neyed with their native preachers throughout all 
the Ongole field of ten thousand square miles, 
preaching and baptizing, until, before the end of the 
year, nine thousand were added to the church, and 
the largest Baptist church in the world was found, 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 143 

not in England, America, or Germany, but in India 
among the Telugus, "Hindus of the Hindus," in 
that mission which less than twenty years before 
the Baptists of America had well-nigh abandoned 
because of its unfruitfulness. 

The people of India are divided into five classes, 
the Brahman, or priest, Kshatrya, or warrior, 
Vaisya, or merchant, and Sudra, or farmer castes. 
The fifth class is composed of those who from va- 
rious reasons have no standing in the castes, and 
are called in general, pariah, or out-caste people. 
Each one of the castes, however, and peculiarly the 
out-castes, is subdivided into almost innumerable 
classes, principally according to occupations. In 
India it is customary for sons to follow in the foot- 
steps of their fathers in regard to trade or occupa- 
tion, and so in time these distinctions come to have 
the force of castes, and are insisted on with as 
much strength as the divisions between the four great 
and original castes of India. Nearly all the con- 
verts at Ongole were from the pariahs, and almost 
all from one special division of the pariah, or out- 
caste people, called Madaga, who are leather 
workers. It is a fact worthy of note that in the 
various missions, while caste distinctions have not 
been allowed to be retained by the converts, the 
progress of the gospel has been chiefly along class 
lines. For example, while the very large majority 
of the converts of the American Baptist mission 
among the Telngus has been from the Madaga 



144 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

caste, an equally large proportion of the converts 
in the Canadian Baptist mission among the Tel- 
ugus to the north are from the Mala, or weaver 
caste. This peculiarity of the extension of Chris- 
tianity in India is not the result of methods of mis- 
sionary work, but rather goes to show that the gos- 
pel has moved along the lines of least resistance in 
the various missions. Whenever it has obtained a 
hold upon one class it has gained a greater number 
of converts in that class, while in other missions 
other castes or classes have been affected in a sim- 
ilar manner. 

A peculiar providence in the early history of the 
mission at Ongole led to the opening of the gospel 
to the Madaga people. When Mr. and Mrs. Clough 
first began missionary work in Ongole, the caste 
people were greatly interested and were the first to 
visit the mission compound, and the most ready 
hearers of the gospel. Numbers of them came 
daily to be taught in the truth. After a time a few 
of the out-castes also became interested in the gos- 
pel. The missionaries preached to both alike. But 
as the number of pariahs visiting the mission com- 
pound began to increase, the prejudices of the caste 
people were aroused, and after consultation a dele- 
gation informed Mr. Clough that their religion 
would not allow them to associate with the pariah 
people, and if these were allowed to come to the 
compound to listen to the gospel, they, the higher 
castes, would be obliged to withdraw. This an- 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 145 

nouncement brought great perplexity to the devoted 
missionaries, for they were greatly interested in the 
more intelligent and prosperous caste people, and 
earnestly desired to retain their influence on the 
side of the mission and of Christianity, realizing 
what a power it would be if some of these high 
caste people should be brought to a knowledge of 
the truth. While the missionaries were in this per- 
plexity, not knowing what course to pursue, it is re- 
lated that Mr. Clough, in passing by a pile of Tel- 
ugu New Testaments and taking the one from the 
top of the pile, it seemed to open of itself to 1 Cor. 
1 : 26-29 : " For ye see your calling, brethren, 
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not 
many mighty, not many noble are called : but God 
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to con- 
found the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak 
things of the world to confound the things which 
are mighty ; and base things of the world, and 
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, 
and things which are not, to bring to nought things 
that are : that no flesh should glory in his pres- 
ence." This incident, which appeared to him prov- 
idential, brought comfort and clearness and decision 
to his perplexed mind. On consulting with Mrs. 
Clough he found that her mind had also been turned 
to the same passage, and their resolve was taken ; 
they would preach the gospel to all who were will- 
ing to hear without regard to class or condition. 
The representatives of the caste people, on receiv- 

K 



146 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ing this decision, withdrew from the mission, and 
even to the present day but few have been converted 
to Christ, while the despised pariahs by thousands 
have been received into the kingdom. 

The .necessity of a trained ministry for the mul- 
titudes of converts whom the missionaries saw by 
faith gathered into Christian churches was early 
recognized, and in 1869 a mission station was 
founded at Ramapatam by Rev. R. R. Williams, 
with a theological school for the training of pastors 
and evangelists for the Baptist Telugu mission. 
Its foundations were laid broad and deep. Rama- 
patam was selected as a central locality, and a large 
amount of land was pre-empted which has proved 
helpful and exceedingly valuable in later years. 
During his visit to America in 1872 Doctor Clough 
raised thirty thousand dollars for the endowment of 
the Ramapatam Theological Seminary, a large part 
of it being given in notes, the interest of which 
was to be paid year by year. Many of these notes 
have from one cause and another remained unpaid, 
but the income and the amount of principal realized 
has had a profound influence on the prosperity of 
the seminary, which at one time stood first in num- 
bers among the Baptist theological seminaries in the 
world. It still retains a position of prominence, 
although the prosperous years of some of our 
American seminaries have caused them to surpass it 
in later years. Scores of young men and women 
have been sent forth from this seminary, to whose 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 147 

labors the later growth and prosperity of the Bap- 
tist Telugu mission are in a large measure due. 

The impulse given to the mission by the great in- 
gathering of 1878 continued in the baptism of 
thousands of converts year by year. This large 
increase, however, brought too great responsibility 
upon the missionaries stationed at the headquarters 
at Ongole and led to the first subdivision of the On- 
gole field in 1882, when four additional stations 
were opened at Cumbum, Vinukonda, JSFursarava- 
petta, and Bapatla. Each of these stations was occu- 
pied by an American missionary family. This di- 
vision of the work led to a still further increase in 
the ingathering of converts, and on Sunday, Dec. 28, 
1890, was seen a repetition of the wondrous spectacle 
at the Vilumpilly ford of the Gundalacuma River, 
when one thousand six hundred and seventy-one 
converts were baptized in the baptistery of Doctor 
dough's mission compound at Ongole. The baptism 
of this large number was accomplished in all decency 
and good order in four hours and twenty-five minutes, 
emphasizing the lesson of July 3, 1878, and afford- 
ing an additional commentary on the baptism of 
three thousand on the day of Pentecost at Jerusa- 
lem. Again more than ten thousand persons were 
baptized within five months. The ingathering also 
continued in later years. Doctor dough on his 
visit to America, in 1891-92, raised twenty-five 
thousand dollars for a special reinforcement for the 
Telugu mission, and in 1892-93 occurred the sec- 



148 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ond subdivision of the original Ongole field, when 
in addition to the five stations already established, 
including Ongole, again four new stations were 
opened, at Kanigiri, Kundakur, Podili, and Sat- 
tanapalli. The first three of these stations were in 
parts of the field where the Christian population 
was most dense. By this additional division the 
original Ongole field was divided into nine, and the 
number of church-members included in these fields 
reached the great total of more than forty-four 
thousand, indicating the wondrous growth accom- 
plished in this the original field of the Ongole mis- 
sion. 

Expansion in the Telugu mission, however, was 
not simply confined to the Ongole field, but it 
experienced large prosperity, not only at Nellore 
and other stations established in the Presidency of 
Madras, but extended over into the Deccan, or do- 
minions of the Nizam in Hyderabad, a native ruler, 
whose authority is continued under the supervision of 
an English Resident. The first station to be founded 
in his dominions was at Secunderabad, the English 
military cantonment, a few miles north of Hyder- 
abad, the Nizam's capital. This was opened by 
Rev. W. W. Campbell. The second station to be 
opened in the Deccan was at Hanamaconda, eighty- 
six miles northeast of Secunderabad, by Rev. A. 
Loughridge ; and in 1898 Nalgonda station was 
opened, fifty miles to the southeast. This station has 
been marked by the large assistance which it has re- 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 149 

ceived from the Mennonite Brethren of Russia and 
the United States, who are Baptists both in belief and 
practice. The station was founded by Rev. Abram 
Friesen, a Baptist of Russia, educated in the Baptist 
theological seminary in Hamburg, Germany. He 
was joined by others appointed by the Missionary 
Union, but supported, as is Mr. Friesen, by the 
Mennonite Brethren, who have also given largely 
for the building and work of this mission. Both the 
coast missions and those in the Deccan are within 
the limits of the territory occupied by the Telugu 
people; but in 1878 Madras was reopened as a mis- 
sion station. It is outside of Telugu territory, yet 
several hundred thousand of the Telugus have settled 
in the vicinity of this great city as laborers, and a 
large field for Telugu mission work is opened to the 
missionaries residing at Madras. The only other 
station in South India occupied by American Baptist 
missionaries, outside of Telugu territory, is at Oota- 
camund, the sanitarium on the Nilgiri hills. 

The success of the evangelistic methods used in the 
Ongole Baptist mission has revolutionized mission- 
ary policy in India. In the early years of missions 
in India the influence of Doctor Duff and others led 
to a preponderating development on educational 
lines, which in the earlier history of Indian missions 
occupied the foremost place. Their influence favored 
formality and a slow upbuilding of Christianity in 
India. Doctor Clough, and others of the Baptist 
missions, swung the pendulum toward the evangel- 



150 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

istic side, and at Ongole the masses flowed in tu- 
multuous tides to the gospel of Christ. This large 
development of the Ongole Mission has led to a re- 
vision of missionary policy in all the other missions 
in India, and resulted in a large increase in converts 
in this first field of Christian foreign missions. 

Yet education has been by no means neglected in 
the American Baptist Telugu mission. In addition 
to the theological seminary early founded at Ra- 
mapatam and diligently fostered, which has been a 
great means of development to the mission, even 
before the great revival steps were taken toward 
the establishment of a Baptist mission college. In 
March, 1874, a piece of land was secured at Ongole 
by Doctor Clough for the establishment of a college. 
Rev. A. Loughridge was sent out as the first head 
of the school, and began the work of building in 
April, 1876. The first bungalow was completed in 
1877, in the midst of the terrible scenes of the 
famine. The school was opened, but shortly closed 
again, and it was not until July, 1879, that the 
Ongole High School, as it was known at that time, 
was permanently reopened. The first head of the 
school was Rev. W. I. Price, who soon removed to 
Burma. He was followed by Mr. Edward A. 
Kelley, a native of India, and later by Rev. W. R. 
Manley, of America, and later by Principal L. E. 
Martin, a son-in-law of Doctor Clough. The col- 
legiate department was formally established in 
August, 1883, when the institution was affiliated 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTHERN INDIA 151 

with the University of Madras as a second grade 
college, with the privilege of teaching a full First 
Arts course, the examinations being under the super- 
vision of the university, and the graduates holding 
rank as having received diplomas from the Madras 
University. Industrial and educational work has 
also received large attention at Nellore, the original 
station of the mission, under David Downie, d. d., 
the successor of Lyman Jewett, and an industrial 
school, for which the funds were largely raised in 
1900, is projected at Ongole. The growth of the 
Telugu mission in numbers was so rapid as to sur- 
pass the advance in the substantial elements of Chris- 
tian and church life. Greater emphasis is placed in 
later years on self-support and the development of 
liberality and self-propagation. Progress in these 
directions was greatly retarded in the famine of 
1 900, the most severe which has affected India 
within historical times, and in which the northern 
and western portions of the Telugu field were in- 
volved. Surprising progress was made, however, 
when the deep poverty of the people is considered, 
and the growth of the mission in the Christian graces, 
as in numbers, is remarkable even in the wonderful 
annals of Christian missions. 



CHAPTER XV 

BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SIAM 

THE intimate relation of Siam to the adjoining 
countries of Southeastern Asia is illustrated 
by the fact that the Baptist missions in Siam were 
the first outgrowth of the missions in Burma and 
the foundation of the missions in China. While yet 
only three fields were opened in Burma the Baptist 
missionaries in that country felt the call to reach 
out to the needy countries about, and recommended 
that Rev. John Taylor Jones, who had arrived in 
Burma in 1831, should go to Siam for the purpose 
of establishing a mission in that country. This he 
did, reaching Bangkok March 25, 1833. The first 
purpose of the mission was to preach the gospel to 
the Siamese, and Doctor Jones proceeded to acquire 
the language, and translated the New Testament 
into Siamese in an elegant version which is justly 
considered as a classic. He also prepared a large 
Christian literature in Siamese, and gained the con- 
fidence of the king, which has always been retained 
by our missionaries in Siam. In no fields have our 
Baptist missions enjoyed so much favor from the 
authorities, or received so much encouragement from 
the government, and it is a peculiar fact that in no 

152 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SIAM 153 

field have our missions experienced so little of genu- 
ine success. 

Although the first efforts were to preach the gospel 
to the Siamese, in the providence of God the first 
converts in Siam were among the Chinese laborers 
who had come to Siam for purposes of employment, 
three Chinese being baptized December 18, 1833, 
and while there have been some conversions among 
the Siamese, and a Baptist church formed of Siamese 
Christians is in existence in Siam, yet as a matter of 
fact by far the larger proportion of converts in Siam 
has been from among the Chinese. All the early 
missionaries in the Baptist missions in China served 
their apprenticeship in Siam ; Rev. William Dean, 
who arrived at Bangkok, July 18, 1835, was the 
first Baptist missionary to study the Chinese lan- 
guage, and he continued to be the principal figure 
in the missions in Siam for many years. Rev. J. 
L. Schuck reached Bangkok in 1836, but soon re- 
moved to China, first to the Portuguese colony in 
Macao and later to Canton, where he became the 
founder of Southern Baptist missions in China. 
Rev. Josiah Goddard arrived at Bangkok Decem- 
ber 16, 1840, and eight years after removed to 
Shanghai, and then to Ningpo, where he established 
the evangelistic work of the Eastern China Baptist 
mission. Rev. William Ashmore arrived in Bang- 
kok April 14, 1851, removed to Hongkong, Janu- 
ary 19, 1858, and later to Swatow, where he and his 
son, William Ashmore, Jr., continued for many years 



154 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

to be the leader of the Baptist mission in Southern 
China. Rev. Sylvester B. Partridge and Miss 
Adele M. Fielde, both prominent in the work of 
the Southern China mission, began their mission 
services at Bangkok, later removing to Swatow. 

In 1851 a severe disaster visited the mission in 
Bangkok, by which all the mission buildings were 
destroyed by fire, entailing the loss of fifteen thou- 
sand dollars, with the destruction of the printing 
press and a large amount of printing materials, and 
nearly the whole of the second edition of Doctor 
Jones' Siamese New Testament, which had been 
printed by Mr. John H. Chandler. The buildings 
were soon restored, and being situated in a favorable 
part of the city, later became of great value. Mr. 
Chandler was succeeded as a missionary printer by 
Rev. S. J. Smith, a native of Siam who was educated 
in America, and who rendered a large service to the 
government and the Siamese people by printing 
Siamese books. The evidence of the favor of roy- 
alty toward the mission was exhibited by the fact 
that when the first Mrs. Smith died the king sent a 
State carriage to the funeral as a mark of his respect. 
It was also in the year 1851 that a decree of tolera- 
tion was promulgated on behalf of Christianity in 
Siam. 

In 1869 the missionary work for the Siamese, 
which had not received great encouragement, was 
suspended, but a Baptist church of this people has 
continued in Bangkok to the present time. The 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SIAM 155 

mission to the Chinese was more favored, as many 
as five hundred members being reported in the 
Chinese Baptist Church in Siam at one time ; but 
owing partly to the floating character of the Chinese 
population in Siam and partly to the fact that many 
were drawn to a confession of Christianity by the 
well-known favor of the missionaries with the court, 
many of those who were received into the church 
proved not to be steadfast, and the number of Chris- 
tians in the Chinese churches has in later years 
rapidly declined. 

From the earliest days of the Karen mission in 
Burma it has been known that considerable num- 
bers of Karens were resident in Siam, and many 
attempts have been made to reach them with the 
gospel. Multitudes of Karens have been found ; 
but on account of the scattered locations of the 
Karen villages in Siam, it has been impossible to 
estimate the exact number, and the propagation of 
the gospel among them has been a matter of great 
difficulty. Rev. D. L. Brayton and Rev. Norman 
Harris crossed the Siamese boundary in about 1850 
in an effort to reach the Siamese Karens. In 1872 
Rev. C. H. Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter, on their 
way to America, began their journey by an overland 
trip from Moulmein to Bangkok, for the purpose of 
visiting the Karens in Siam. On the formation of 
the Foreign Mission Board of the maritime provinces 
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Baptists 
of these provinces, who had hitherto been co- 



156 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

operating with the American Baptist Missionary 
Union, selected as their first field the Karens in 
Siam, and Rev. Mr. Churchill and his wife spent a 
year in Bangkok in efforts to reach this people. 
Rev. W. F. Armstrong, Rev. Mr. Sanford, and 
Miss Norris, afterward Mrs. Armstrong, also made 
efforts to reach the Karens of Siam from Moulmein 
and Tavoy ; but the number that they were able to 
find did not encourage them in their efforts to reach 
this people, and the Canadian mission was finally 
removed to the northern part of the Telugu country 
in India, and established in territory adjacent to the 
American Baptist Telugu mission. The first con- 
siderable number of converts among the Karens in 
Siam were gained by Christian Karens, teak lumber 
dealers, who visited the Lakon district in the vi- 
cinity of Chiengmai, and on their return interested 
the Burma Baptist Missionary Convention in that 
field. Native Karen preachers were sent, and the 
field Avas visited by Rev. David Webster, of Moul- 
mein, who later resided a year at Chiengmai, or, as 
it is known in the Karen language, Zimme, being 
the only American Baptist missionary actually hav- 
ing had a residence among the Karens in Northern 
Siam. They have been visited by various mission- 
aries at different times — by Rev. Walter Bushell and 
Rev. J. L. Bulkley, of Moulmein ; by Rev. A. E. 
Seagrave, of Rangoon, and Rev. W. C. Calder, of 
Moulmein ; and later by Mr. Seagrave again, ac- 
companied by Rev. E. N. Harris, of Shwegyin. 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SI AM 157 

Three Baptist churches were formed in the Lakon 
district, which have continued under the care of the 
Burma Baptist Missionary Convention. 

In later years considerable Christian interest has 
been developed among the Mons, or, as they are 
known in Burma, Takings. Dr. John T. Jones 
compiled a vocabulary of four thousand Talaing 
words, and the gospel was preached to many of the 
Talaings who were found in the country in the 
general vicinity of Bangkok. In 1896 two Talaing 
missionaries, a man and his wife, were sent by Ed- 
ward O. Stevens, D. d., of Moulmein, the wife 
having been a native of Burma, captured in youth 
by robbers and carried to Siam, whence she finally 
escaped and returned to Burma. She now went 
back with her husband to carry to the people of 
Siam the word of life. In 1897, Doctor Stevens 
visited Bangkok and baptized five Talaings, also 
the mother of Rev. Hans Adamsen, m. d., a native 
of Siam educated in America, who was in charge of 
the mission. A church of twenty-five or thirty 
Talaings was organized at Sampawlerm, in the dis- 
trict of Ayuthia, and the work among the Mons 
appeared to be the most promising of any of the 
missions in Siam. 

On account of the want of success in the work 
among the Siamese, and the fleeting character of the 
Chinese population, the abandonment of the Baptist 
mission in Siam has often been considered ; but it is 
possible that the revived interest in missionary work 



158 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

among the Karens in the north, and among the 
Talaings in the south, may give greater encourage- 
ment for a continuance of Baptist missionary work 
in Siam. The American Baptist Missionary Union 
still retains a valuable property in Bangkok, the 
Siamese Baptist Church is self-supporting, and a 
valuable property, still under the private control of 
Rev. S. J. Smith, is yet in existence, ready to be 
used in the interest of Baptist missionary work. 

For several years the mission in Siam has been 
in charge of Rev. John M. Foster, D. D., Swatow, 
China, who visits Bangkok at least once a year. 



CHAPTER XVI 

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 

IN their work for the four hundred million popu- 
lation of the vast empire of China, American 
Baptists occupy seven different fields, or locations, 
admirably selected with reference to their strategical 
importance in religious work and for decisive in- 
fluence upon the Chinese people. Three of these 
fields are under the care of the Foreign Mission 
Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and four 
are cultivated by the American Baptist Missionary 
Union. The Southern Baptist missions include 
the South China mission, with three stations, the 
chief of which is at Canton ; the Central China mis- 
sion, which has four stations, the principal head- 
quarters being at Shanghai ; and the North China 
mission, with three stations, with headquarters at 
Tengchan, in the Shantung province. For the work 
of the American Baptist Missionary Union there is 
the Southern China mission, with five stations, of 
which the oldest and most important is Swatow, on 
the coast north of Hongkong ; the Eastern China 
mission, also with five stations, the principal one 
being at Ningpo ; the Central China mission, at Han- 
yang, on the Yangtze River, one of the three great 

159 



1G0 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

central cities of China — Hankow, Hanyang, and 
Wuchang ; and the Western China mission, with 
three stations, the first being at Suichaufu, on the 
Yangtze River, and the latest established, Yachau, 
in the extreme west of Szchuan province, not far 
from the borders of Tibet. From these widely ex- 
tended fields American Baptists have admirable op- 
portunities for reaching and affecting the entire 
population of China proper. 

While the first Baptist convert in China was bap- 
tized by Rev. J. L. Schuck at the Portuguese colony 
of Macao, January 31, 1837, and the first Baptist 
church was formed there, the second being formed in 
Hongkong, Canton, the chief station of the South 
China mission of the Southern Baptists is the oldest 
location continuously occupied by American Baptist 
missionaries in China, and has always been the cen- 
ter of aggressive and expanding work. Still under 
the care of this mission is the church in Hongkong. 
The Canton mission has prospered not only in num- 
bers and in increased influence, but in development 
in every line of Christian activity. Self-support 
has been largely developed among the native Chris- 
tians, schools of all grades have been established, 
from Sunday-schools and primary grades to an 
academy and an English school, the last two, however, 
being entirely self-supporting and independent of 
mission funds. The chief name connected with the 
Canton mission is that of Roswell H. Graves, D. d., 
eminent for literary as well as direct evangelistic 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 161 

work, he having compiled two hymn books in 
Chinese and published a book on the " Parables of 
our Lord," a book of homiletics, for the training 
class for preachers under his care, a " Scriptural 
Geography," and a " Life of Christ," besides the 
translation of several books of the New and Old 
Testaments. Associated with him, from time to time, 
have been men of devotion and ability, particularly 
Rev. E. Z. Simmons, who has had charge more par- 
ticularly of the evangelistic work of the outstations. 
In 1885-86 the Canton mission suffered much 
from the hostility to foreigners incident to the war 
with France. Its activities were for a time para- 
lyzed, but it rapidly recovered, and while it has 
suffered more than many other mission fields from 
the recent anti-foreign feeling in China following 
the Japanese war, the work has been continued on 
its upward course with energy and success. The 
Southern Baptist Convention was the first Protestant 
missionary Board to hold property and gain a foot- v 
ing in the interior of China. In 1898, on the invi- 
tation of the Canton missionaries, all Baptist mis- 
sions in China were invited to send representatives 
to Canton to consider the formation of a Chinese 
Baptist Publication Society, which was organized in 
February, 1898, Doctor Graves being president. 
This society is not considered as peculiarly under 
the auspices of the Southern Baptist mission, but is 
intended to facilitate and assist the work of all Bap- 
tist missions in China. 

L 



162 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

The Central China, or Shanghai mission, has 
been equally happy in its leading spirit, the station 
having been founded by Matthew T. Yates, D. D., 
in 1847, who continued to be the controlling factor 
until his greatly lamented death. Shanghai being 
the principal port of the central coast of China, 
furnishes to this mission large opportunities for 
most important influence upon the flowing tides 
of Chinese always passing through the city. Its 
influence is by no means measured by the records 
of conversions or the statistics of church-member- 
ship. To the remotest ends of China has gone 
the word of the truth as preached in Shanghai. 
Here also is the gathering point of missionaries 
of all denominations, and Baptist missionaries of 
all fields have here found a hospitable welcome 
and God-speed as they went forth on the way to 
their special stations. The Shanghai Baptist Church 
is strong and a leading feature in Baptist work in 
China. 

By a similar gracious providence the North 
China mission of the Southern Baptists, with head- 
quarters at Tungchau, has been blessed by the labors 
of T. P. Crawford, d. d., who established the station in 
1863, and continued to be its guiding spirit for many 
years. Chefu, an important city of this field, was 
occupied by Rev. J. L. Holmes and wife, but Mr. 
Holmes was murdered by the rebels a year after 
his settlement, being one of the bereavements in 
which the missions of the Southern Baptists in China 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 163 

have had a peculiarly sad experience. The North 
China Baptist mission, in common with other mis- 
sions in that part of the empire, has suffered severely 
from the repeated overflows of the Hoangho or Yel- 
low River, and especially by the southern overflow 
of 1898 and the consequent famine, which greatly 
affected the progress of the missionary work, the 
energies of the missionaries being largely devoted 
for a time, as in the various famines in India, to 
relieving the sufferings of the people. 

The Southern China mission of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union, begun at Swatow in 1860 
by Rev. J. W. Johnson, and reinforced by Rev. 
William Ashmore in 1863, has been generally re- 
cognized as one of the best organized missions in 
China — a reputation gained chiefly by the efficient 
leadership of Doctor Ashmore through a long series 
of years. Bible principles have been constantly ap- 
plied to the conduct of the churches, every little 
group of believers being called upon to appoint 
elders or leaders who should be responsible for the 
conduct of services in the absence of the missionary 
or the native pastor. The churches have also been 
trained in self-reliance and in self-help, and in a 
desire to achieve complete self-support as soon as 
the number of members and their financial condition 
would permit. In 1864, the city of Swatow itself 
being unhealthful, Mr. Ashmore bought property at 
Kak Chieh, across the bay one mile to the south, 
for eight hundred dollars. This barren and rocky 



164 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

tract of land was developed with taste and care 
and industry, until it forms probably the most beau- 
tiful, convenient, healthful, and attractive head- 
quarters possessed by any of our Baptist missions. 
In 1900 the land, aside from all the buildings which 
have been erected, was valued at twenty-five hun- 
dred dollars, gold. For many years but one central 
church was recognized, with headquarters at Swatow, 
to which all the Christians came as far as possible 
for quarterly meetings and communion ; but with 
the growth of the mission and the demands of the 
outer fields enlargement became necessary, and in 
1890 work was begun by Rev. George Campbell in 
the city of Kayin among the Hakka people. The 
Chinese about Swatow are known as Tie Chiu, or 
lowland people, while the Hakkas, or highland peo- 
ple, live in the interior, the latter being the most 
literary and intelligent among the people of China. 
As is usual in religious work, these literary people 
have been among the most difficult to reach with 
the gospel, but there is encouragement that when 
once they receive the gospel they will become a 
striking and efficient means of spreading the truth 
among their countrymen. A special feature of the 
Swatow mission has also been the work of Bible 
women as developed under the efficient leadership 
of Miss Adele M. Fielde. It was Miss Fielde's 
practice to gather the Christian women for instruc- 
tion and to teach them thoroughly one lesson from 
the Gospels, and when they had learned it to send 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 165 

them out, two by two, into the country about to tell 
the lesson to their Chinese sisters in their villages. 
After a time, again they were gathered at Swatow 
and received another portion of the truth, and 
having obtained a thorough grasp of it went forth 
to carry the good news of salvation. By these 
methods Miss Fielde built up an organized corps of 
Bible women, whose work under her direction has 
been a model for the work of Bible women through- 
out China. In the later years, the little country 
churches, which were first considered as branches of 
the Swatow Church, have been organized into in- 
dependent churches. Several new stations have 
been established, and as supplementary to the or- 
ganization of the churches and the excellent work 
of the Bible women, a system of Bible study at 
central points in the country districts has been in- 
augurated by the Rev. John M. Foster in order to 
reach and touch the members of the churches who 
are not able to visit Swatow. These Bible classes 
are maintained for a period of a month or more, 
the most intelligent of the church-members being 
gathered for the purpose. By these admirable and 
efficient methods of organization, with elders in 
every little church, with the leading members trained 
in Bible study, and Christian women taught in the 
word, the Southern China mission has been welded 
into an effective force for carrying on the work of 
the gospel among the people in these neighbor- 
hoods, and for reaching out into the region beyond. 



166 AMEBICAU BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Medical missionary work was the means of open- 
ing Ningpo to the gospel. A hospital was opened 
by D. J. MacGowan, M. D., in 1843, but was closed 
for a time, and re-opened in April, 1845. Some 
gospel services were also held, and in the first year 
Doctor MacGowan prescribed for more than two 
thousand patients. The real inauguration of evan- 
gelistic work in the Ningpo, or Eastern China mis- 
sion, Avas due to the coming of Rev. Josiah God- 
dard, who arrived in Ningpo in March, 1848. He 
was soon reinforced by Rev. E. C. Lord, who sailed 
from America in 1847. In addition to his evan- 
gelistic and distinctively missionary work, Mr. God- 
dard completed, in 1853, a translation of the New 
Testament into Chinese, which has enjoyed a high 
reputation for accuracy and idiomatic force, and is 
still in use. A class for the training of native 
preachers was established and conducted for several 
years at Ningpo by Doctor Lord, which later was 
removed to Shaohing, and continued under the care 
of Horace Jenkins, D. d., who joined the mission 
in March, 1859. Another strong leader in the 
Eastern China mission w r as M. J. Knowlton, D. D., 
who reached Ningpo in June, 1854. On account of 
an unusual combination of earnestness, sincerity, 
humility, and scholarly abilities in Doctor Knowl- 
ton, he was known as the " Western Confucius," 
perhaps the highest compliment which the Chinese 
could pay to any foreigner. Rev. J. R. Goddard, 
the son of the founder of evangelistic work in 



AMEKICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 167 

Ningpo, reached the field in 1868, and continued 
for many years to be the leader and strength of the 
mission, which at many times was left wholly to his 
sole care. In 1899, he completed the translation of 
the Old Testament into the Ningpo colloquial. Med- 
ical work having been the earliest feature of the mis- 
sion, has been continued without interruption, and 
forms a strong element in the progress of the work. 
Doctor MacGowan was succeeded by S. P. Barchet, 
M. D., who was followed by Dr. J. S. Grant in 
1889. The Eastern China mission is now estab- 
lished in four of the largest and most influential 
cities in the Chekiang Province, which form centers 
of influence for the spread of the gospel into all 
that portion of China. In December, 1872, the Che- 
kiang Baptist Association was formed, including the 
churches of the Eastern China mission of the Amer- 
ican Baptist Missionary Union, and of the Shanghai^ 
or Central China mission of the Southern Baptist 
Convention. This union continued with most happy 
results until the spread of the missions and the 
growth of the churches and the difficulty of reaching 
the more distant points at which the Association 
was held, led to the formation of two Associations 
by the churches of the Southern and Northern Bap- 
tist missions respectively. The intimate relation 
of these two missions was illustrated by the fact 
that Sucliau, first opened as a station by Doctor 
MacGowan, of the Eastern China mission, later 
formed a station of the Southern Board. 



168 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

In 1889 the West China mission in Szchuan 
Province was opened at Suichaufu, under the Amer- 
ican Baptist Missionary Union, by Rev. William 
Upcraft and Mr. George Warner. Mr. Upcraft had 
before been a representative of the British and For- 
eign Bible Society in China. He had traveled ex- 
tensively in the interior, and became acquainted 
with the language and customs of the people. He 
had also endured great persecution, at one time 
having been stoned and, like Paul, left without the 
city for dead. He rose up and returned to the 
West, came to America, where he visited friends, 
especially in the State of Minnesota. The forma- 
tion of the West China mission was due to his 
proposition, and on going out under the Missionary 
Union, the support of Mr. Upcraft and his compan- 
ion, Mr. George Warner, was pledged by the Bap- 
tist young people of Minnesota. They established 
themselves first at Suichaufu, on the Yangtze River, 
one thousand five hundred miles from the sea. As 
soon as reinforced, Mr. Upcraft moved on and 
opened another station at Kiating, to the north, and 
soon still another station at Yachau, northwest of 
Kiating, and well on toward the border of Tibet. 
Mr. Upcraft made several journeys over the bor- 
der and into Tibet, and this outpost of the West 
China mission furnishes the nearest approach of 
Baptist missions to that isolated country. 

In the conduct of the Western China mission, on 
account of its great distance from the coast, an in- 



AMEBIC AN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 169 

termediate post for the entertainment of missionaries 
on the way, and for the supply of financial and pos- 
tal facilities became necessary, which led to a station 
being opened at Hanyang, which, in connection with 
the neighboring cities of Hankow and Wuchang, 
forms the largest center of population in China, and 
constitutes the great receiving and distributing 
center for the products and imports of Central 
China. The three cities have, according to the 
national preferences of the speakers, been called the 
" Liverpool " and the " Chicago " of China. The 
station was opened by Rev. Joseph Adams, of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, who was later 
joined by Rev. G. A. Huntley, M. d., for the con- 
duct of medical work. Great tides of population 
are surging to and fro in this immense center, and 
offer the largest opportunities for casting on the 
waters the bread of life. A small church has been 
gathered, and while the visible results of labor have 
not been large, yet the immense opportunities stimu- 
late the zeal of the servants of Christ, and encour- 
age the belief that the scattering of the seed, as 
promised by the divine Master, shall not be in 
vain, but that the harvest shall be gathered in the 
Lord's own time. 

In the extensive uprising against foreigners, which 
occurred in 1895, the Baptist missionaries in West- 
ern China, in common with those of all other mis- 
sions to the number of nearly two hundred, were 
compelled to flee for their lives, and their work was 



170 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

suspended for nearly a year. Their experience is a 
story of hairbreadth escapes and great perils hero- 
ically endured ; but, by the care of the Lord, no 
missionary life was lost, although a large amount 
of missionary property was sacrificed. Prompt 
measures were taken by the Chinese government, 
under foreign pressure, for the suppression of the 
anti-foreign riots, the United States government 
taking the most effective measure, by sending an 
embassy to Szchuan Province, which, in order to 
produce a wider impression on the Chinese, made 
the entire journey by land. The sight of this peace- 
ful official deputation marching in state across their 
territory with the approval of the Peking govern- 
ment, exerted an influence on the Chinese people of 
the interior almost equal to that which would have 
been effected by an invading army. Inconsequence 
of this, and measures adopted by other governments, 
the officials of Western China experienced a change 
of mind, if not of heart, the missionaries were re- 
ceived back with distinguished consideration, and 
were aided officially in re-establishing their work 
and restoring their mission premises, for the loss of 
which full indemnities were paid by the Chinese 
imperial government. Again in 1899, the security 
of the missionaries in Western China was threatened 
by another anti-foreign rebellion, raised by a leader 
known as Yumantse. But this was also against the 
imperial power, and while several missions were 
wrecked, and for a time missionary work was greatly 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN CHINA 171 

hindered, the rebels were at last overcome by the 
government forces and a measure of peace and se- 
curity restored to Western China. In this excite- 
ment the Baptist missions escaped all actual injury 
except the inevitable loss of effectiveness in their 
work. High hopes were aroused by the advanced 
reforms ordered in the edict of the emperor, 
Kwangsu, in 1899, which contemplated the over- 
turn of the ancient methods in Chinese literary ex- 
aminations, the founding of a system of public edu- 
cation, and the placing of official administration on 
a basis of strict accountability and responsibility. 
These expectations were put in suspense by the ar- 
bitrary action of the empress dowager, Tsi An, who 
placed the young emperor under arrest, executed all 
of his chief counsellors who could be caught, re- 
sumed her former place at the head of government, 
revoked the reformatory edict, and with the support 
of the conservative Tsung li Yamen, placed the 
affairs of China back in their old ruts, as far as her 
efforts and influence could effect. For a short time 
the progressive party in China was paralyzed by the 
action of the empress dowager, but soon showed 
signs of renewed life. Both within and without the 
limits of the Chinese Empire indications rapidly ap- 
peared that the attitude of the Chinese government 
under the control of the Conservatives would not be 
accepted, and the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty, 
which has long been distasteful to the Chinese people 
in the great Yangtse Valley, was freely predicted 



172 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

as a result of this reactionary movement of its most 
powerful representative. 

The terrible outbreak of hostility against foreign- 
ers and native Christians in the summer of 1900, 
was started by a secret society popularly known as 
" The Boxers," but they were soon joined by the 
Peking government. The clash of arms at Tien- 
tsin between the Allies and the Chinese, resulting in 
the defeat of the latter, followed by the rescue of 
the imperiled legations at Peking, intensified the 
anti-foreign feeling. The minds of all the Chinese 
were more or less aroused, and these events seriously 
embarrassed all Christian missionary work in China 
during the closing months of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. The missions everywhere were more or less 
imperiled, and the lives of many missionaries were 
lost. Indeed, missionary operations almost wholly 
ceased, and the missionaries, with few exceptions, 
were withdrawn. The overthrow of the Manchu 
dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of 
China are more fully treated in the Centennial 
supplement. 



CHAPTEE XVII 

BAPTIST MISSIONS IN JAPAN, THE LIU CHIU, AND 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 

THE remarkable progress of Japan, from one of 
the most exclusive to the foremost nation of 
Asia, and its unique position as the only country com- 
monly known as pagan which has proved its right to 
a position among the most influential nations of the 
world, has attracted universal attention to that 
country and greatly emphasized the importance of 
Christian missionary work in Japan. The history 
of Christian missions for the Japanese exhibits every 
phase of experience known in missionary life. Begun 
amid the greatest difficulties and under severest 
prohibitions, they have been carried on sometimes 
amid persecutions, and again with almost universal 
favor. Slow and difficult progress has blossomed 
suddenly into an ease of winning converts almost 
unknown in any other missionary land, and again 
brightening hopes have suffered opposition and 
blight from the anti-foreign prejudices of the people. 
No element of romance and interest in missionary 
work is wanting to the history of Christian missions 
in Japan. This work is also distinguished from 
missionary work in other countries by the fact that, 

173 



174 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

whereas, almost universally, as in India and in 
China, Christian missions have obtained their first 
and greatest progress among the lower classes of 
the people, owing to the peculiar political condition 
of Japan upon being opened to the entrance of 
foreigners, the class to view foreigners and their re- 
ligion with the most favor was the great Samurai 
or middle class. There is found, therefore, a wide 
extension of Christianity among the middle classes 
of Japan, whereas the coolie or laboring class has 
hardly been touched and the upper classes but 
slightly affected. It has been said that Christianity 
rises from the bottom. This has been found to be 
true from the early history of the religion of Jesus 
Christ in its small beginnings in Galilee and Judea, 
to the missions of the present time ; and even in 
Japan the same tendency is exhibited, since the 
spread of Christianity among the Samurai has had 
far more influence upon the aristocratic or noble 
class than upon the farmers and laborers. How this 
latter class will be reached is one of the problems 
which Christian missions have to solve in Japan. 

The first Baptist missionary to Japan was a sea- 
man in Commodore Perry's expedition in 1854. 
Returning to this country, Jonathan Goble told of 
his experiences and interest in Japan, and was sent 
out by the American Baptist Free Mission Society 
in 1860, as the first Baptist missionary to Japan. 
He translated portions of the New Testament and 
did much work in extending the circulation of such 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN JAPAN 175 

Christian literature as was obtainable, as well as in 
preaching the gospel. When the Free Mission 
Society turned over its work, in 1872, to the Ameri- 
can Baptist Missionary Union, that society accepted 
Mr. Goble as its missionary and appointed Nathan 
Brown, d. d., then Secretary of the Free Mission 
Society, to be associated with him in Japan. Doctor 
Brown translated the whole New Testament into 
Japanese, having before translated the same for the 
Assamese, and thus enjoyed the high distinction of 
giving to two entirely distinct peoples — the As- 
samese and Japanese — the New Testament in their 
own tongues, both versions being so nearly perfect 
that little revision has been needed. In 1873 the 
edict for the exclusion of Christianity from Japan 
was abrogated, the calendar of the country was 
changed to modern style, old holidays were abolished 
and Sunday was made a legal holiday. The same 
year the first Baptist church in Japan was formed 
at Yokohama, with eight members, three of whom 
were Japanese. The mission was reinforced by the 
addition of Rev. J. H. Arthur and of Henry H. 
Rhees, D. d., who built the first Baptist mission 
house in Tokyo, and afterward removed to Kobe, 
where he completed his life-work. In 1879 Rev. 
Thomas P. Poate, a teacher in the Imperial Uni- 
versity of Japan, joined the Baptist mission, and 
also Rev. Albert A. Bennett and wife from America. 
A training class for biblical students was soon 
opened by Mr. Bennett at Yokohama, which grew 



176 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

in importance, and about 1895 was reorganized with 
John L. Dearing, d. d., as president and A. A. Ben- 
nett, D. D., Rev. C. K. Harrington, and Rev. W. 
B. Parshley, as professors. The recognition of the 
fact that leaders must be furnished for the intelli- 
gent and enterprising people of Japan led to the 
establishment of Tokyo Baptist Academy, which in 
its early stages was nurtured by Samuel W. Duncan, 
D. D., Foreign Secretary of the Missionary Union, 
and after his sudden and lamented death his name 
was given to the academy. The funds for the 
erection of the first dormitory and for placing the 
school upon a substantial basis were furnished by 
Mr. Duncan's sister, Mrs. Robert Harris, and it 
therefore forms a worthy memorial of the family. 
The work in Mito, to the north of Tokyo, was in- 
augurated by Rev. C. H. D. Fisher, who while re- 
siding in Tokyo made evangelistic journeys to the 
north. Impressed with the imjjortance and needs of 
this large city he took a contract for teaching in the 
government school there before residence for mis- 
sionary work was lawful, with the agreement that his 
spare time should be devoted to preaching the gos- 
pel and that he would secure a man from America 
for the position as soon as possible. In accordance 
with this arrangement, Professor E. W. Clement, 
later the principal of Duncan Academy, Tokyo, went 
out to Mito from America. After Mr. Clement's 
return to America, Rev. J. L. Dearing, of Yoko- 
hama, conducted evangelistic work in the city and 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN JAPAN 177 

vicinity, and in 1898 Rev. J. C. Brand and wife 
were specially authorized to undertake Mito and 
the surrounding country as their fields. Sendai, 
still farther to the north, was occupied as a Baptist 
mission station by Rev. T. P. Poate, in 1882, and 
Shimonoseki and Osaka, to the southwest, in 1886 
and 1892. 

Rev. Chapin H. Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter, 
whose names became eminent in missionary history 
by their notable work in charge of the vigorous 
Bassein Sgaw-Karen mission in Burma, later turned 
their attention to Japan, after it was discovered that 
Mr. Carpenter's health would not allow further 
residence in Burma. It was thought that in the 
cooler climate of Japan, and especially in the northern 
portion, he might continue in the missionary work 
to which he had consecrated his life. Mr. and Mrs. 
Carpenter opened work in the year 1886 in Nemuro 
on the island of Yezo, as formerly known, but now 
called Hokkaido, but Mr. Carpenter's health proved 
to be undermined by his long residence in Burma, 
and he passed from his active duties on earth to his 
heavenly home, February 2, 1887. The work at 
Nemuro, however, has been continued by Mrs. Car- 
penter, supported at her own expense, as was the 
mission from the beginning by herself and her hus- 
band. Although the entire cost of the work is paid 
by Mrs. Carpenter, she and her co-laborers in the 
work are enrolled on the lists of the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union as a self-supporting mission. 

M 



178 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

In 1889 the Foreign Mission Board of the South- 
ern Baptist Convention began work in Japan. This 
had been contemplated much earlier, but after the 
loss of Rev. J. Q. A. Rorer and his wife, in the 
" Edwin Forrest," as previously mentioned, no fur- 
ther attempt was made until this latter date. Their 
missionaries have established themselves in the 
island of Kiushiu, the most southwestern of the 
larger islands of Japan, with stations at Fukuoka, 
Nagasaki, and Kokura. Much encouragement has 
been met with, and the same obstacles have been 
encountered, as in the missions of the Northern Bap- 
tists and other Christian missions in Japan, owing 
to the political and uncertain attitude of the people 
and the political authorities of Japan toward foreign- 
ers and Christian missions. The Southern Baptist 
missionaries unite with the Northern Baptists in 
missionary conferences, and share the privileges of 
the theological seminary at Yokohama and all other 
movements which relate to the general progress of 
Baptist mission work in Japan. 

In 1892, Mrs. Allan, of Scotland, visited Japan, 
— one among the multitude of those who have had 
the curiosity to visit this extremely interesting and 
even fascinating people and country. In Kobe, 
Mrs. Allan became interested in the missionary 
work of Rev. R. A. Thomson and his wife. Mr. 
Thomson mentioned to her the Liu Chiu Islands as 
a needy field for Christian missions. On her return 
to Scotland a definite offer was made by Mrs. Allan 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN LIU CHIU ISLANDS 179 

to Mr. Thomson, as a representative of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union, of a sum of money suffi- 
cient to open missionary work in the Liu Chiu Is- 
lands and carry it on for a number of years, with 
the understanding that the work, if successful, 
should be continued by the society. The offer was 
accepted and the Liu Chiu Island mission was es- 
tablished, and it has been conducted by Japanese 
missionaries under the general direction of Mr. 
Thomson, who visits the islands every year. A 
church has been formed at Naha, the capital. 

On the first visit of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson in 
January, 1892, the most interesting and even ex- 
citing experiences were encountered. No foreign 
lady had been seen in the Liu Chiu Islands for many 
years, and the appearance of Mrs. Thomson was a 
signal for a general suspension of business. The 
market places and shops were deserted when it was 
known that Mrs. Thomson was taking a walk 
through the street. The city was so upset by this 
strange and interesting visitor that the authorities 
were compelled to request Mrs. Thomson to remain 
indoors during the day, in order that the business 
of the city might be resumed. She, therefore, con- 
fined her outings to the night and to going out in a 
covered jinrikisha in the daytime. Considerable 
response to the gospel has been found among the 
people in the Liu Chiu Islands, and several have 
been baptized at every annual visit by Mr. Thomson 
or other missionaries from Japan. 



180 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

The acquisition of the Philippine Islands by the 
United States naturally directed the attention of 
Protestant Christians in America to them as a field 
for missionary effort. Upon agreement with the 
Home Mission Society the Philippines were taken 
by the Missionary Union as a part of the foreign 
mission field, and the missionary work in Japan and 
in the Liu Chiu Islands, six hundred miles to the 
north, furnished a natural Hue of approach to the 
Philippines. In the providence of God, a native 
of the Visayan group of the Philippines who visited 
Spain, was converted in the Baptist mission in Bar- 
celona, under Rev. Eric Lund. Mr. Lund feeling 
at once the importance of the new convert, with his 
assistance began the translation of the Gospels and 
other books of the New Testament, as well as sev- 
eral Christian tracts, into the Visayan tongue. An 
appropriation of one hundred and fifty dollars by 
the American Baptist Missionary Union for print- 
ing these translations was the first American Baptist 
money appropriated to missionary work in the Philip- 
pine Islands. On account of the continuance of the 
war in Luzon, the northern island of the Philip- 
pines, the authorities of the Union had already 
looked toward the Visayan group as a more fav- 
orable field for beginning missionary operations. 
The providential coming of this convert to the mis- 
sion in Spain confirmed this opinion, and arrange- 
ments were at once made for the establishment of 
Baptist missionary work in the Visayan group of 



BAPTIST MISSIONS IN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 181 

the islands. It was considered highly important 
that the first missionary to be entrusted with the 
establishment of this work should be some one 
thoroughly known to the authorities of the Union 
as a missionary of experience and discretion, and 
although Mr. Lund's services in Spain were of 
great importance, the more commanding require- 
ments of the opening of the Philippine mission led 
the executive committee to request Mr. Lund to 
proceed to the Philippines to establish the work, 
looking toward the island of Negros as an espe- 
cially promising field— an opinion which was con- 
firmed in an interview with President J. G. Schur- 
man, of Cornell University, who had been chair- 
man of the first United States Commission to the 
Philippine Islands. Early in 1900 Mr. Lund ac- 
cordingly proceeded to the Philippines, accompanied 
by Mr. Braulio Manikan, the Filipino converted 
in the mission in Spain. By the establishment of 
this mission American Baptist work covers a line of 
outlying stations off the eastern coast of Asia, more 
than two thousand miles long, from Nemuro, on 
Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, to the 
Visayan group of the Philippine Islands. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 

THE history of the adoption of the Congo mis- 
sion by American Baptists is one which clearly 
illustrates that providential leading of the Lord 
which has characterized in a marked degree all 
their mission work. Baptists in America have 
always felt a deep interest in missions in Africa, 
the mission in Liberia having been one of the earli- 
est established by the General Convention. In 
1820 two colored brethren, who had gone out from 
Richmond, Va., were recognized as missionaries 
in Liberia, and the work in that country was car- 
ried on without interruption until 1856. At that 
time, on account of various complications, especially 
because of the difficulty in making satisfactory 
business arrangements in regard to the mission, it 
was suspended, and comparatively little mission 
work in Liberia has been done by American Bap- 
tists since that time. Small appropriations have 
been made to various persons, but within recent 
years they have been wholly discontinued. Yet 
there was continually manifest an earnest de- 
sire on the part of many to resume Baptist mis- 
sion work in Africa. An examination of the records 

1-2 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 183 

of the annual meetings of the American Baptist 
Missionary Union shows that almost every year 
resolutions were introduced, instructing the Board 
of Managers to reopen mission work in Africa at 
the first favorable opportunity. These repeated at- 
tempts are a proof of the warm interest of many of 
our people in African missions. 

Only a few months after Henry M. Stanley had 
completed his journey through the Dark Continent 
(August 7, 1877), and opened to the world a knowl- 
edge of the real extent of the Congo, a few friends 
in England sent missionaries to the mouth of the 
Congo to open a mission. This was called the 
Livingstone Inland Mission, the name being taken, 
not from the missionary, but from the name " Living- 
stone," which Mr. Stanley gave to the Congo River. 
The old name of the river has, however, been re- 
tained by the judgment of the world. This mission 
was carried on by the friends in England from 1878, 
increasing year by year, and the chief burden of 
management and support finally came upon Dr. and 
Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness, of London. After 
coming to the missionary rooms, in 1880, the writer, 
having noticed the persistent determination of many 
to reopen missions in Africa, made a complete study 
of the entire coast line of Africa with reference to 
the opening of a new mission work. "While en- 
gaged in this study it came to his knowledge that 
Rev. George Pearse, who had opened a mission in 
Algeria, had expressed an intention of offering his 



184 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

mission to the Missionary Union. As a part of his 
investigation the writer accordingly addressed a let- 
ter to Mr. Pearse asking for information about the 
mission, and inquiring whether he still entertained 
the idea of placing his work in the hands of Ameri- 
can Baptists. This letter was addressed to the care 
of the editor of the " Orphans' Mission Press," at 
Leominster. Since Mr. Pearse was in Algeria, the 
letter was forwarded to Mr. and Mrs. Guinness, who 
were acting in an advisory capacity to Mr. Pearse' s 
mission. 

It is necessary to go back for twenty-five years 
previous to this time, in order to take up another 
link in the chain of providential circumstances 
which placed the Congo mission in the hands of 
American Baptists. At that time J. N. Murdock, 
d. D., for about thirty years corresponding secretary 
of the Missionary Union, was pastor of the Bowdoin 
Square Church in Boston. Dr. Kirk, of the Mount 
Vernon Congregationalist Church, had invited Mr. 
Guinness, a young and rising evangelist in England, 
to come to America to hold revival meetings in his 
house of worship. Just before leaving for America, 
Mr. and Mrs. Guinness were baptized by immersion, 
aud upon arriving in this country it was found that 
a knowledge of this had preceded them, and they 
were on that account excluded from the Mount Ver- 
non Church. Greatly distressed at this turn of 
circumstances, Doctor Kirk asked Doctor Murdock if 
he would admit the young English evangelist to his 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 185 

church in Bowdoin Square, near-by. Consent was 
cordially given ; and so Mr. and Mrs. Guinness began 
their evangelistic labors in America in the Bowdoin 
Square Church, under the auspices of Doctor Mur- 
doch, afterward the secretary of the Missionary 
Union. Accordingly, when the letter to Mr. Pearse 
was placed in their hands, they recognized it as 
coming from the society with which their old friend, 
Doctor Murdoch, was connected, and received it 
with special interest. By this time the Congo mis- 
sion had so much expanded that it was becoming 
too large to be conducted as a personal mission, and 
the Guinnesses had been feeling that for its proper 
development it should come under the management 
of some established society. Their hearts turned 
Avarmly and cordially toward their old benefactor 
and the society of which he was the head, and, being 
informed by the receipt of this letter to Mr. Pearse 
that American Baptists had thoughts of mission 
work in Africa, they wrote at once to Doctor Mur- 
doch offering him the Livingstone Inland Mission 
on the Congo. After several months of negotiation 
and careful deliberation, the mission was at last 
accepted in September, 1884, and has since been 
conducted wholly by the Union and on the princi- 
ples established by its constitution. 

In 1886, the opportunity came to Doctor Edward 
Bright, the defender of the Telugu mission in India, 
to speak a decisive word in another important crisis 
in our missionary history. The mission on the 



186 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Congo had been adopted by the Missionary Union 
in 1884. The addition of this work was received 
with large enthusiasm by the majority of the de- 
nomination, but with some opposition on the part 
of others, who were perhaps moved more by their 
fears than by their faith, and were afraid that the 
additional burdens would embarrass the work on 
the older fields of the Union. Doctor Bright was 

then editor of " The Examiner " and for a time 

\ t ... 

seemed to view the Congo mission with something 

of doubt. In the spring of 1886, Doctor Sims, of 
Leopoldville, visited this country. He was the first 
of the missionaries on the Congo to come to America. 
His statements regarding the mission were of great 
service to the executive committee of the Missionary 
Union, and it was arranged that in company with 
A. J. Gordon, D. d., who was an ardent advocate of 
the mission, Doctor Sims should visit some of the 
chief cities of the country to lay before the leading 
Baptists of America a clear statement of the condi- 
tion of the mission on the Congo. Among others a 
parlor conference was held in New York City at which 
Doctor Bright was present. He listened with deep 
interest to the statements of Doctor Sims, and his 
explanation of the difficulties, dangers, and oppor- 
tunities of the Congo mission. He became fully 
convinced that this was, indeed, a work placed upon 
the American Baptists by God, and the next week 
he came out in " The Examiner " with a powerful 
and decisive editorial in favor of the vigorous pro- 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 187 

sedition of the work on the Congo. The annual 
meeting of the Union, held soon after at Asbury 
Park, confirmed his judgment, and was one of the 
most inspiring anniversaries ever held by the society. 
Far sooner than in the case of the Telugu mission 
was his faith and courage rewarded. Within six 
months came the tidings of the revival at Banza 
Manteke, " the Pentecost on the Congo," in which 
more than one thousand of the natives threw their 
idols at the feet of the missionary, Rev. Henry 
Richards, and professed themselves followers of 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Since that 
time the work has gone on at this station, until in 
1900 there were more than fifteen hundred church- 
members, with fifty-seven native preachers and 
teachers, gathered in three large Christian churches. 
The field of the Congo mission in its characteris- 
tics is akin to that among the Karens of Burma 
and the natives of the Pacific Islands. The peo- 
ple have no organized form of religion, but have a 
simple, natural worship which has been proved by 
missionary experience to oifer the most favorable 
openings for the progress of Christian work. The 
possibilities of work on the Congo are already indi- 
cated by the great revival in Banza Manteke, re- 
ferred to above, when more than one thousand threw 
away their idols. All these might have been bap- 
tized at once ; but the prudence of the missionary, 
Mr. Richards, led him to baptize only those whom 
he found by test to be worthy of admission to a 



188 AMEEICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

pure Christian church. A similar work, although 
more gradual in its progress, has gone on at Lu- 
kunga, and at other stations which have been blessed 
in a less degree. But none of the ten stations of 
the Congo mission are without converts. The prog- 
ress of the mission since its adoption is paralleled 
among our own missions only by the early triumphs 
of the Karen mission in Burma. The work has 
been carred on in the face of great obstacles, on ac- 
count of the unsettled nature of the country and the 
absence of banks, trading facilities, and means of 
communication. While, however, the material prog- 
ress of the work has met many difficulties, the spirit- 
ual advancement has been most encouraging. 

After the transfer of the Southern Baptist Mis- 
sion from Liberia to the Yoruba country, in 1875, 
the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist 
Convention continued its work on the Gold Coast, 
principally at Abbeokuta and Ogbomoshaw in the 
interior, and at Lagos on the coast. The work at- 
tained considerable prosperity, especially at Lagos, 
where a large degree of self-support was realized, 
the church contributions in 1898 amounting to five 
hundred and seventy-eight dollars and ninety cents, 
and the membership reaching one hundred and fifty- 
five. The mission, however, has encountered the 
difficulties common to missionary work on the western 
coast of Africa, resulting from the unhealthfulness 
of the climate and the uncertain character of the 
population. Only Christian heroes are fitted for 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN AFRICA 189 

this work. They must take their lives in their 
hands for the sake of the work of Christ among the 
heathen, and counting nothing dear, not even life 
itself, they go into these unheal thful regions, sus- 
tained simply by confidence in God and the love of 
souls dying in darkness without the light of the 
gospel. A personal history of Christian missions 
on the west coast of Africa, if it could be pre- 
pared, would be a story of heroism and martyrdom 
unequal ed in the annals of the Christian church. 

After the closing of the Southern Baptist mission 
in Liberia and the discontinuance of work by the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, little mission 
work was done there for several years by American 
Baptists ; but toward the close of the nineteenth cen- 
tury the Lott-Carey Foreign Missionary Convention, 
formed by Negro Baptists of the Southern States, 
sent out Rev. John O. Hayes, and continued to main- 
tain him in missionary work in connection with the 
Ricks Institute in the vicinity of Monrovia, and 
later at other fields. The National Baptist Mis- 
sionary Convention of the Negro Baptists also from 
time, to time sent several missionaries to Liberia, 
but from failure of health and other causes they re- 
turned to America, and in the year 1900 they had 
no missionary on this field. Inspired by a visit of 
Rev. Charles S. Morris, formerly pastor of the Ne- 
gro Baptist church in West Newton, Massachusetts, 
a movement sprang up in 1900 which may lead to 
a reopening of missionary work in Liberia, perhaps 



190 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

with some industrial features. During his stay in 
Africa, Mr. Morris also visited South Africa, and 
reported excellent results from the work of Mr. 
Yale, supported by the Lott-Carey Missionary Con- 
vention in labors near Capetown. An interesting 
feature of Mr. Morris' visit was also the baptism at 
Queenstown of thirty-three leaders of "The African 
Native Church." This is a body formed under the 
labors of Rev. Jonas Goduka, who was formerly a 
preacher in connection with the Wesleyan mission 
in South Africa. Becoming dissatisfied with the 
views of the Wesleyans he withdrew from their serv- 
ice and upon personal study of the Bible, without 
knowledge of the Baptist denomination, he reached 
largely Baptist views ; and this group of churches, 
seventeen in number, was formed under his labors, 
he being considered as the general overseer. On 
coming in contact with Mr. Morris and learning 
that there was a large body of Negro Baptists in 
America holding views practically the same as his 
own, excepting that his church had not yet received 
baptism by immersion, he, with the leaders of the 
churches, was baptized by Mr. Morris, and they dis- 
persed with the intention of leading their churches 
into full fellowship with the Baptists. The name of 
this group of churches was changed from " The 
African Native Church " to " The African Baptist 
Church." 



CHAPTER XIX 

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 

THE story of Baptist missions in Europe reads 
like a romance. It is probable that through- 1 
out Europe from the early ages of Christianity there 
were always scattered communities holding sub- 
stantially Baptist views. One of these scattered 
communities existed in the northeastern part of 
France. Early in the present century, led by a 
study of the New Testament, a few earnest and 
pious souls had abandoned the errors of the Roman 
Church and formed societies on New Testament 
principles. They were ignorant of the fact that 
there were others in the world holding the same 
views as themselves ; but isolated and persecuted, 
these loyal and earnest souls held fast to the princi- 
ples of the pure gospel. In 1835 these brave New 
Testament Christians were rejoiced by a visit from 
Rev. Isaac Willmarth, of America, who told them 
of the large body of Christians across the ocean 
with views like their own, based solely and strictly 
upon the New Testament. The American Baptist 
mission in France had been begun in 1832 by 
Professor Irah Chase, of Newton Theological Insti- 
tution, with whcm was associated a native French- 



192 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

man, J. C. Rostan. Rev. Isaac Willmarth was the 
first American missionary designated to labor per- 
manently in France, and he organized the First 
Baptist Church in Paris, May 10, 1835, and the 
Baptists in northeastern France gladly associated 
themselves with the new mission. The work grew, 
until in 1839 there were seven Baptist churches in 
France with one hundred and forty-two members, 
and Rev. Erastus Willard as the only American 
Baptist missionary in the country. For many years 
the work has been carried on wholly by French- 
men. 

Great persecutions were suffered by the early 
Baptists, and one chapel built by them was closed 
by the Roman Catholics for eleven years. It was 
opened in 1848 by the French revolution, which 
brought nominal religious freedom to all. But 
much local persecution still existed. Rev. Mr. 
Lepoids, who was pastor of the First Church in 
Paris for twenty years, and others, were arrested 
and thrown into prison and fined ; yet in spite of 
persecution the number of churches multiplied. 
During the Franco-Prussian war a large part of the 
male membership entered the army, but work still 
went on. The Baptist mission in France has felt 
a beneficial influence from the work of the McAll 
mission, and Rev. Reuben Saillens, who was the 
chief helper of Rev. R. W. McAll, withdrew from 
that work and devoted himself to the Baptist mis- 
sion. He organized a second Baptist church in 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 193 

Paris which has greatly prospered and gained sev- 
eral hundred members. Mr. Saillens also visited 
other portions of France on evangelistic tours, during 
which many churches were organized, especially in 
the southeastern part of France and in French 
Switzerland. The prevalence of New Testament 
views among pious and devoted Christians of other 
churches has been characteristic of the work from 
the beginning. In later years the most important 
accessions to the Baptist membership have been 
from among those who have become Baptists from 
independent study of the Scriptures and afterward 
identified themselves with the mission. Large serv- 
ice in this direction has been done by Rev. J. B. 
Cretin, who has written and published and circu- 
lated at his own expense a large number of tracts 
on Baptist doctrine. Many of the pastors of Bap- 
tist churches were first pastors of the State churches, 
and came independently to Baptist views before 
uniting with the mission. Several entire churches 
have come over bodily from the Eglise Libre (Free 
Church) and joined the Baptist Associations — par- 
ticularly one body of very intelligent believers in 
Neuchatel, Switzerland. Baptist views are still 
very largely represented in the pastorates and mem- 
bership of the Free and Reformed Churches, and the 
future progress of Baptist work in France will 
doubtless be largely in the line of its early develop- 
ment. 

About the same time with the starting of the 



194 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Baptist movement in France, certain Christians in 
Germany had also come to embrace scriptural views 
regarding baptism and the church ; notable among 
these was Johann Gerard Oncken, of Hamburg. 
Barnas Sears, D. D., of Boston, was providentially 
led to Hamburg in 1834, and on April 12 of that 
year, at midnight, a little band of seven rowed in a 
small boat to a point several miles from the city and 
were scripturally baptized by Doctor Sears. This 
was the beginning of the great Baptist mission of 
central Europe, of which Mr. Oncken was the founder 
and apostle. By his labors and those of Rev. Julius 
Kobncr, of Denmark, Rev. George W. Lehmann, 
of Germany, and others, the Baptist movement was 
rapidly and widely extended throughout the German 
States of central Europe. Always have there been 
found in Germany persons of deep piety and com- 
munities holding scriptural views of the church and 
its ordinances. Many of these united with Mr. 
Oncken and his associates, and the Baptist move- 
ment gained strength with every year. Severe per- 
secutions were encountered, but within a few years 
the Baptists had extended from the little circle of 
seven to Russia, Denmark, Switzerland, Lithuania, 
Silesia, and Poland, and in 1849 the first German 
Baptist Conference was held in Hamburg, repre- 
senting about thirty churches and two thousand 
eight hundred members. In 1859 twelve young 
men, who had been instructed in Hamburg, were 
ordained to the Baptist ministry in one day, Septem- 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 195 

ber 12. Later, Baptist work extended to Bul- 
garia and Holland, and in 1875 the government of 
Prussia passed an act for the incorporation of Bap- 
tist churches. 

In Cassel there is now a large publishing house un- 
der the charge of Philip Bickel, D. D., which was first 
established in Hamburg by and continued for many 
years by Doctor Oncken. A theological seminary in 
the care of Rev. Joseph Lehmann and Rev. J. G. 
Fetzer is found in Hamburg and Baptist churches 
are found in all the leading cities of central Europe. 
These are rapidly multiplying year by year in Ger- 
many and in all the countries of Europe. The 
Baptist churches suffer greatly every year by the 
emigration to America of some of their brightest 
and best members, so that the increase in financial 
strength is not proportioned to the growth in num- 
bers. They still need the help of their brethren in 
America, and in turn the Baptist churches in Amer- 
ica receive large and important accessions from the 
Baptist churches in Europe. 

The large and flourishing Baptist work in Sweden 
is at once an outgrowth of the German Baptist mis- 
sion and a remarkable illustration of the power and 
value of religious literature. Before Baptist preachers 
were suffered to openly preach in Sweden, large 
quantities of literature were circulated among its 
reading people by the valuable assistance of the 
American Baptist Publication Society, especially 
through Rev. A. Wiberg, who was practically the 



196 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

founder of the Baptist mission in Sweden. Not al- 
lowed to preach or to form churches, he devoted him- 
self to the preparation and dissemination of Baptist 
literature throughout the country, with the result 
that, when missionary work by preaching of the 
gospel began, Baptist churches were rapidly multi- 
plied. There is a Baptist theological seminary in 
Stockholm, under the care of Knut O. Broady, D. d., 
and six or seven Baptist churches in Stockholm, the 
capital city of Sweden, besides churches in almost 
every other important town in the country. The 
Swedish Baptist Missionary Union carries on both 
home and foreign missionary work. Under its 
auspices the work throughout Sweden has largely 
extended and been carried into Norway, Finland, 
and other countries. 

The Baptists in Sweden occupy a position toward 
the State Church which we find in no other country. 
Owing to the peculiar laws of the country, Swedish 
Baptists still continue to be nominally members of the 
State Church ; but, taking advantage of the breadth 
of freedom in worship which is allowed, they main- 
tain their own churches and their own worship, and 
are pushing their vigorous missionary operations 
from the north to the south of the country. There 
is nothing disingenuous or deceitful in the position of 
the Swedish Baptists toward the religious laws of 
Sweden, since they are framed to allow such a state 
of things. Formerly Baptists suffered more or less 
persecution from the prejudices of the priests and 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 197 

occasionally of the local authorities ; but these have 
largely passed away, and everywhere in Sweden the 
Baptist work is carried on without legal opposition. 

Closely allied with the Baptist work in Sweden is 
that in Norway. Aid in this work has been more 
recently granted by the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union, some of the pastors of Norwegian 
churches being graduates of the Bethel Theological 
Seminary at Stockholm. Here, also, are found the 
sturdy aggressiveness and enthusiasm which charac- 
terize the Scandinavian race ; and although the Bap- 
tists in Norway are still weak, yet within the last 
four or five years they have received a new impetus 
under the assistance given from America. 

Another offshoot of the Swedish mission is the 
Baptist work in Finland, which, although within 
the boundaries of Russia, is more nearly joined to 
that in Sweden. Here there sprang up in the last 
few years of the nineteenth century a most encour- 
aging work, which was carried on at the first amid 
great opposition, but later secured a legal standing 
in the State. The establishing of a school for 
preachers is proposed, and the future of our Baptist 
work in this extreme northern country is one of 
promise, unless the recent act of the Czar of Russia 
in withdrawing from Finland the measure of inde- 
pendence it formerly enjoyed and bringing it wholly 
under the control of the laws of Russia shall place 
Baptist mission work in Finland at the same disad- 
vantage as in Russia. 



198 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

The Baptist mission in Denmark was also an off- 
shoot of that in Sweden, but was afterward, and 
more naturally, allied to the work in Germany, and 
was carried on for a number of years under the 
patronage of the German-American Baptist Com- 
mittee. It has now attained such standing that a 
separate committee has been organized, and the ap- 
propriations for the Danish Baptist churches are 
made directly from the headquarters of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union. As in all the rest of 
Northern Europe, there is found in Denmark a 
strong tendency toward Baptist views, and the 
progress of the Baptist churches is one of increasing 
hopefulness. The net increase of the Baptists in 
Denmark, in the five years from 1879 to 1883, was 
only thirty-six; in the following five years it ad- 
vanced to three hundred and eighty-five, and during 
the following five years the net gain was five hun- 
dred and ninety-one. 

One of the most interesting outgrowths of the 
German Baptist mission has been the work in Rus- 
sia. It began among the German colonies in South- 
ern Russia, and has largely extended, having at the 
present time more than eighteen thousand members. 
In common with all dissenters in Russia, the Bap- 
tists of that country have suffered severe persecution. 
In the popular mind and in the eye of the priests of 
the Greek Church, they are identified with the 
Stundists. Multitudes of Baptist families have 
been torn asunder, their children placed in Greek 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 199 

nunneries or monasteries, or with families who 
would bring them up in the accepted doctrines of 
the State Church, and the parents transported to Si- 
beria. Whole churches have been exiled in a 
body. One church from the Baltic provinces 
sold all its property, and the members left their 
homes and emigrated to South America rather 
than endure the persecutions and trials to which 
they were subjected. Hundreds of Baptists are 
in exile in the desolate regions of Siberia, includ- 
ing many pastors of Baptist churches, and many 
have fled from their homes to central Europe to es- 
cape a like fate. Of all the Baptists in the world, 
those of Russia most greatly need the sympathy and 
prayers of their brethren for the severe trials and 
persecutions to which they are subjected. In spite 
of these the work goes on. The Baptist cause 
prospers amid persecutions ; now, as of old, the 
" blood of martyrs is the seed of the church," and 
the most active opposition of the Greek Catholic 
priesthood and of the officials of the Russian gov- 
ernment cannot hinder the progress of the truth, 
which must triumph in the end. 

The same movement for expansion which led to 
the establishment of the Baptist mission among the 
Telugus of India, prompted the opening of the Bap- 
tist mission in Greece. Rev. Horace T. Love and 
Cephas Pascoe arrived as missionaries of the Amer- 
ican Baptists at Patras, December 9, 1836, and re- 
ceived permission to circulate the Bible and preach 



200 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

the gospel. They also opened missionary schools. In 
1840 the mission was changed to Corfu. The first 
convert to be baptized was very appropriately named 
" Apostolos," and was received in the year 1840. 
In 1844 Rev. Albert N. Arnold and wife and Miss 
S. E. Waldo arrived at Corfu, and Rev. R. F. Buel, 
who had labored at Corfu for several years, removed 
to Piraeus, whence the mission later penetrated the 
city of Athens. There was great opposition and 
some persecution on the part of the Greeks ; but, as 
a whole, while the people have shown considerable 
interest in listening to the gospel, they have never 
felt the force of the truth sufficiently to lead them 
to leave their State Church in large numbers, and 
the membership of the Baptist churches in Greece has 
always been small. Mr. Demetrius Z. Sakellarios, 
one of the early converts, has been the most promi- 
nent native laborer in the mission, preaching the 
gospel in Athens for a series of years, and continuing 
his work even after the American Baptist Missionary 
Union suspended its operations in 1856, for fifteen 
years. In 1871 Rev. George W. Gardner and Rev. 
D. W. Faunce visited Athens, and on their recom- 
mendation the mission in Greece was resumed. Mr. 
Sakellarios having visited in America and studied at 
the Newton Theological Institution, was then ap- 
pointed a full missionary of the Missionary Union. 
He married an American lady, Miss Edmands, of 
Charlestown, Mass., and returned to Greece and 
continued his labors, although the Missionary Union 



AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS IN EUROPE 201 

again discontinued its appropriations to Greece in 
1886, except a small honorarium to Mr. Sakellarios 
in his old age. After long-continued and faithful 
efforts, it seems to be apparent that while the Greeks 
are of high intelligence and have great interest in 
religious subjects, they are not open to that influence 
of religious truth which will enable them to endure 
separation from their own people and church for the 
sake of a purer gospel and a more living faith. 

All the American Baptist missions in Europe 
have been under the auspices of the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union, except the work in Italy, 
maintained by the Foreign Mission Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention. This was begun 
in 1870 by Eev. W. N. Cote, m. d., in the city of 
Eome. In 1873 George B. Taylor, d. d., was ap- 
pointed missionary and superintendent of the Italian 
mission. To his long services and able leadership 
are largely due the success of Baptist missions in 
Italy. He raised the funds in America for the 
building of a chapel in Rome, which was completed 
at a cost of thirty thousand five hundred and nineteen 
dollars and seventy-three cents. An able coadjutor 
of Doctor Taylor has been J. H. Eager, d. d., 
who has labored at Rome, Naples, and Florence. 
Baptist churches have been established in the cities 
of Rome, Naples, Florence, Torre Pellice, Modena 
and Carpe, Bari and Barletta, Venice, Bologna, and 
on the island of Sardinia. A steady and substan- 
tial progress has been achieved, not only in church- 



202 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

membership, but especially in the influence of 
pure spiritual ideas upon the people of Italy. 
Instances have several times occurred in which 
whole villages have expelled the priests, taken pos- 
session of the churches, and turned them over to 
Protestant ministers for services. In 1885 the 
" Apostolic Baptist Union " was organized, which 
has been the means of the wider extension of the 
truth and of a large circulation of the Scriptures 
and Christian literature. 



CHAPTER XX 

BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

THE natural interest felt in the southern portion 
of the Western Hemisphere by the people of 
the United States early led the attention of Baptists 
to be directed toward missions in South America. 
It was not, however, until 1879 that the Southern 
Baptist Convention authorized its Foreign Mission 
Board to begin a mission in Brazil, and a station 
was opened at Santa Barbara, in Sao Paulo Prov- 
ince, South Brazil. This province is commer- 
cially, intellectually, and politically the most impor- 
tant province of Brazil, having a comparatively 
temperate climate, and being populated by a class 
of people of exceptional intelligence, industry, and 
prosperity. The exports of the province are large 
and its wealth is increasing. Considerable prosper- 
ity was enjoyed by this mission from the first, and 
a Baptist church has been continued, which, how- 
ever, in 1900 was without a resident missionary. 

The second mission to be established was at Bahia, 
on the coast, in the north. Here also large success 
has been achieved, the number of baptisms amount- 
ing in 1897 to sixty-two, and the church rais- 
ing about two thousand dollars for various relig- 

203 



204 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ious purposes. In this mission there are now six 
churches, one church being formed in the year 
1898. A prosperous school has been established, 
with American school furniture, and conducted on 
the American system of education. The school en- 
joys the large favor of the best people of the city, 
and at the inauguration many of the prominent 
men of the city were present, including the secre- 
tary of State. The governor sent a band, and the 
oration was delivered by the leader of the House 
of Representatives. The Baptist church estab- 
lished in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, has 
been largely prospered. A special revival of relig- 
ion was enjoyed in the year 1899, by which many 
were added to the church. A large expansion has 
been experienced by the Southern Baptist Mission 
in Brazil, and in 1898 the ideal was realized in a 
line of mission stations from Manaos, on the Ama- 
zon River, to Sao Paulo, in Southern Brazil. The 
principal stations occupied are Sao Paulo, Rio de 
Janeiro, Juiz de Fora, Bahia, Valenca, Campos, Sau 
Fidelis, Pernarabuco, Para, and Bello Horizonte. 

In spite of the prosperity granted to the mission, 
or perhaps because of it, severe persecutions have 
visited the native Brazilian Christians in many 
places, especially at Campos and in the vicinity of 
Bahia. This is not due to the laws of the country, 
which afford entire freedom to Protestant mission- 
aries in the prosecution of their work, but to the 
hostility of the Roman Catholic priests and the 






BAPTIST MISSIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA 205 

prejudices of the people. Under their influence 
many of the Christians have been injured in pro- 
perty, and in one or two cases have given their 
lives for their faith in Jesus. Yet the mission con- 
tinues to prosper, and an association has been 
formed in the southern part of Brazil called the 
" South Brazil Baptist Association." A paper 
called the "Good News" is published by the mis- 
sion for the furtherance of the gospel. Several 
new churches were formed in 1898 and 1899, and 
the mission enjoys increasing prosperity. 

Some time near 1880 Rev. Paul Besson, a worker 
from the Baptist Mission in France, removed to 
Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine Republic, and com- 
menced the work of preaching the gospel. He 
gathered a considerable church and enjoyed much 
favor of the people. In 1899 a fine new church 
was erected, of which an extended account was 
given, with a description of views of the Baptists, in 
the leading journal of Buenos Ayres. The growing 
prosperity of the Argentine Republic and the south- 
ern States of Brazil points to these countries as in- 
creasingly important fields for Baptist missionary 
work. 



CHAPTER XXI 

BAPTIST WORK IN MEXICO, CUBA, AND PORTO RICO 

IN the Republic of Mexico Baptist missionary 
work has been carried on by the Foreign Mis- 
sion Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and 
by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. 
As early as 1836 the attention of the latter Society 
was turned toward Mexico, but not until 1870 was 
the first missionary appointed. Previous to this 
some interest in Baptist views had been aroused by 
the labors of Mr. John W. Butler, an Englishman, 
and Rev. James Hickey, who settled in Monterey. 
On January 30, 1864, Mr. Hickey baptized Mr. T. 
M. Westrup, then an Episcopalian, and two Mexi- 
cans, and the first Baptist church in Mexico was 
formed at Monterey with five members. On the 
appointment of Mr. Westrup as missionary by the 
Home Mission Society in 1870, a printing press 
was supplied him, which partly under the care of 
this society and part of the time in charge of " The 
Board of Baptist Missions of the Republic of Mex- 
ico," continued as a helpful feature of the mission- 
ary work. The rapid growth of the new move- 
ment was indicated by the fact that in 1871, five 
years after the founding of the first church, a report 



BAPTIST WORK IN MEXICO 207 

called for by the newly established Juarez govern- 
ment, gives five churches with one hundred and ten 
members. Owing to lack of funds the support of 
the mission in Mexico was intermitted for a time, 
and in 1880 Rev. T. M. Westrup, with his brother, 
Rev. John O. Westrup, were accepted by the For- 
eign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Con- 
vention as its first missionaries in Mexico. The 
work of the Home Mission Society in Mexico was, 
however, never wholly abandoned. Other mission- 
aries were sent to the field, and in 1887 a strong 
mission plant was established in the city of Mexico 
under the care of Rev. William H. Sloan, formerly 
superintendent of the American Baptist Mission 
Press in Rangoon, Burma. A fine church was 
erected and excellent printing facilities provided, 
which, by his thorough knowledge both of the Span- 
ish language and of the art of printing, Mr. Sloan 
has been able to use to the great advantage of the 
mission. The paper, " La Luz," " The Light," issued 
on behalf of both the Northern and Southern Bap- 
tist missions in Mexico, is truly a messenger of 
light and salvation to the people of the Mexican 
Republic as also to the Spanish-speaking peoples of 
the southwestern territories of the United States. 
In 1900 work of the American Baptist Home Mis- 
sion Society in Mexico was conducted from eleven 
centers, the city of Mexico, Monterey, Puebla, San 
Luis Potosi, New Laredo, Santa Rosa, Linares, 
Montemordos, Sabinas, Balinas, and Cadereita, with 



208 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

six hundred and forty -three members in the mission 
churches. 

Previous to 1880 there were thirteen small Bap- 
tist churches in Mexico, composed chiefly of immi- 
grants from Texas and elsewhere. One year after 
the appointment of the Westrup brothers in this 
year as missionaries of the Southern Baptist Con- 
vention, Rev. John O. Westrup was barbarously 
murdered. His place was soon supplied, and in 
1882 Rev. W. D. Powell settled in Saltillo. Al- 
though meeting with favor from many, the success 
of the Baptist movement aroused intense hostility 
on the part of the Roman Catholic priests and their 
more bigoted adherents. The narrative of Mr. 
Powell's missionary labors is a tale of exciting ad- 
venture. He was driven out of places of worship 
he had secured, attempts were made on his life, and 
in one of his evangelistic tours he was attacked by 
a highwayman. After a search to find what of 
value the Baptist preacher might have about his 
person, the highwayman offered to loan him money 
enough to enable him to get home. Not all of Mr. 
Powell's assailants were so generous, and only the 
hand of God kept him amid all the perils he en- 
countered. But he continued his labors. In 1884 
the Madero Institute, for the education of girls, was 
founded by Mr. Powell. It accomplished an ex- 
cellent service in a time when needed, but with the 
advance of public educational facilities in the re- 
public its work seemed to be unnecessary and it was 



BAPTIST WORK IN CUBA 209 

discontinued in 1898. In Saltillo also is the Zara- 
gosa Institute, for boys and for training preach- 
ers. The churches of the Southern Baptist mission 
continued to increase, and before 1890 a line of 
Baptist mission stations was established from the 
Rio Grande, the boundary of Texas, to the Pa- 
cific Ocean, and hundreds of converts were bap- 
tized. Because of this growth it was thought ad- 
visable to divide the mission into two, the North- 
ern and the Southern, for greater facility of admin- 
istration. The chief centers of the missions were, in 
1899, at Saltillo and Torreon, in the State of Coa- 
huila, at Zacatecas ; at Doctor Arroyo, in the State 
of Nuevo Leon ; at Morelia, in the State of Micho- 
acan ; and at Toluca, in the State of Mexico. The 
last three form the South Mexican mission. Larger 
prosperity has been experienced in the North Mexi- 
can mission, which is also the older. In both mis- 
sions there were, in 1900, one thousand two hundred 
and thirty-two members in thirty-two churches. 
The relations between the United States and the 
neighboring republic, which must grow more inti- 
mate year by year, emphasize the increasing im- 
portance of Mexico as a field for the labors of 
American Christians. 

CUBA. 
Upon the conclusion of the war between Spain 
and the United States in 1899, by which the sov- 
ereignty of Porto Rico and the protectorate of 



210 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Cuba came to the latter, movements were at once 
set on foot for the re-establishment of Baptist mis- 
sion work in Cuba and the founding of a Baptist 
mission in Porto Rico. A conference between spe- 
cially appointed representatives of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union and of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society to arrange an ami- 
cable division of fields in the new United States pos- 
sessions, allotted the Philippine Islands to the for- 
eign mission society and Cuba and Porto Rico as 
home mission fields. The very successful work 
which the Home Mission Board of the Southern 
Baptist Convention had inaugurated in Havana and 
Western Cuba made it proper that those fields should 
be left to that Board, which was agreed upon in 
a conference between its representatives and the 
American Baptist Home Mission Society, the latter 
taking the responsibility of maintaining Baptist 
mission work in Eastern Cuba, including Santiago 
de Cuba, and in Porto Rico. The work in Santiago, 
under Rev. H. R. Moseley, met with marked en- 
couragement, especially in the conversion from 
Roman Catholicism of Dr. Jose P. Dikins, presi- 
dent of the Pan-American Commercial and Ex- 
press Company, who became at once an influential 
advocate of his new faith. At the close of the 
war the Home Mission Board of the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention at once resumed its work in Cuba, 
sending Rev. J. R. O'Halloran to Santiago. Great 
success attended his labors. By January 1, 1899, 



BAPTIST WORK IN PORTO RICO 211 

lie had baptized one hundred and fifty persons and 
organized two churches. According to the division 
of territory agreed upon this work was transferred 
to the American Baptist Home Mission Society. 
Rev. A. J. Diaz, m. d., whose marvelous story has 
been given in the chapter on the Southern Baptist 
Convention, for a time in the employment of the 
United States Government as interpreter, and later 
in the service of the American Baptist Publication 
Society, resumed his work in Havana under the 
Southern Board, and he continued to experience the 
great prosperity which had previously been given 
to his labors. Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Pinar 
del Rio have also been occupied for missionary 
work, and from these four centers it is proposed to 
extend the work until the whole portion of Cuba 
allotted to the Southern Board shall be filled with 
Baptist stations, centers of light in a fair but shad- 
owed land. 

PORTO RICO. 

Rev. H. P. McCormick, for twelve years mis- 
sionary of the Southern Baptist Convention in Mex- 
ico, on January, 1899, was appointed the first Bap- 
tist missionary to Porto Rico by the American Bap- 
tist Home Mission Society, and was soon joined by 
Rev. A. B. Rndd and Mrs. Janie P. Duggan. They 
were received with favor by the people. But be- 
cause of the destructive tornado which, in 1899, 
devastated this beautiful island in common with 



212 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

many other of the West Indies, and also in conse- 
quence of the suffering brought upon the island by 
the delay of the United States Government in estab- 
lishing a settled order of finance and administra- 
tion, the work of the missionaries was turned to re- 
lief of the people. This opened the way in the 
most favorable manner for the preaching of the 
truth, and may be expected to lead to large spirit- 
ual harvests in the future. 



CHAPTER XXII 

CIVILIZATION AND AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

THE indebtedness of science and civilization to 
Baptist missions is large and important, but has 
hitherto been made known only as the work of the 
different fields has been presented. The chief empha- 
sis has been placed upon oral preaching of the gospel, 
and the incidental advantages which have accrued to 
the peoples of the various lands in which the mis- 
sions have been maintained, and to the world at large 
have scarcely been realized even by those well ac- 
quainted with the progress of missions. Evangeli- 
zation, and not civilization, has been the aim. But, 
while the gospel has been preached and many hun- 
dred thousand persons have been brought into the 
kingdom of Christ, both these and many others have 
received large and manifold blessings, the incidental 
accompaniments of all work for the advancement of 
the kingdom of Christ. That which raises and helps 
any people is a blessing to the whole human race. 
The reflex benefits of American Baptist missionary 
work may be mentioned under seven different heads : 
First, geography ; second, science ; third, languages ; 
fourth, literature ; fifth, education ; sixth, social 
improvement ; and seventh, commerce. 

213 



214 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Geography. — The aid which exploration and the 
science of geography have received from Baptist 
missions has never been properly recognized. Adoni- 
ram Judson, the pioneer Baptist missionary of Amer- 
ica, was also the first Protestant missionary to live 
under an absolutely heathen government in Asia. 
Before him, the idea of Christian missions had been 
to labor among heathen populations in colonies of 
Christian governments. So Ziegenbalg and Schwartz 
went to the Danish possessions in India ; Carey, 
Marshman, and Ward, to the domains of the East 
India Company and the Danish colony in Seram- 
pore ; but Adoniram Judson and his wife, Ann 
Hasseltine, driven from the possessions of the East 
India Company, and by the hand of Providence led 
to Burma, heroically established themselves in resi- 
dence and missionary work under the heathen gov- 
ernment of that country, one of the worst that has 
ever cursed any part of Asia. In this they set an 
example which has been an inspiration to pioneer 
missionaries in heathen lands in all subsequent 
times. In their footsteps and under their inspiration 
many others have followed, including such illustrious 
names as John Williams, the martyr of Erromanga ; 
David Livingstone, the heroic missionary and ex- 
plorer of Africa; and William Morrison, of China. 

Judson's great services in opening Burma have 
been followed by others of the Baptist missionaries. 
Almost every missionary of the early days was to a 
certain extent an explorer, and the geography of 






CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 215 

the wild portions of Burma often became known to 
the English officials through the reports and labors 
of Baptist missionaries. Special reference should 
be made to the early travels of Eugenio Kincaid in 
Upper Burma. He penetrated to Mogaung, almost 
to the mountains bordering on Assam, when he was 
driven back by the natives and nearly lost his life 
in his heroic pioneering exploration. The travels 
of Josiah N. dishing, D. d., in opening up Shan- 
land, are well known to the scientific world, and 
have received high appreciation from the British 
Government and officials, who availed themselves of 
his reports in planning their expeditions through 
that country, and of his services as interpreter to 
their exploring parties. 

In most of the countries in which American 
Baptist missions have been planted, explorers have 
preceded the missionaries, except in some portions 
of the Garo and Naga Hills, in Assam, where serv- 
ices as explorers have been rendered by Rev. E. W. 
Clark, Rev. M. C. Mason, and Rev. E. G. Phillips. 
It is not until we come to Africa that we find addi- 
tional large and eminent service to the science of 
geography performed by our Baptist missionaries. 
After Henry M. Stanley came down the Congo in 
his famous journey " Through the Dark Continent," 
he began the construction of a road along the north 
bank of the river, for the accommodation of the large 
possibilities of commerce with the Upper Congo. 
There the first stations of the Livingstone Inland 



216 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Mission were also established. But the members 
of that mission saw more clearly than did Mr. Stan- 
ley himself that the difficulties in the way by the 
north bank of the river were so excessive as to be 
almost prohibitive to an easy transport. They es- 
tablished stations on the south side, first at Pala- 
bala, then at Banza Manteke, and finally Doctor 
Sims and Messrs. Banks and Petterson pushed on 
and were the first white men to reach Stanley Pool 
by the south side of the Congo. Their discovery, 
which opened a way so much easier than along the 
north bank, led to the abandonment of Mr. Stanley's 
road, and for years since then all commerce has 
passed from the lower to the upper river over sub- 
stantially the way discovered by the missionaries, 
and running through the line of stations planted by 
them. The railroad up the Congo also follows the 
general contour of country adopted for their travel. 

Physical Science. — The chief contribution made 
by Baptist missionaries to physical science is un- 
doubtedly the vast and exhaustive work of Francis 
Mason, d. d., entitled " The People and Productions 
of Burma." The preparation of this work furnished 
the amusement and relaxation of his busy mission- 
ary life, and was first published by private means. 
Since the death of Doctor Mason it has been revised 
by an eminent specialist and published by the Brit- 
ish Government in a costly official edition. It still 
remains as the standard authority, not only on the 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 217 

ethnology but on the flora and fauna of Burma, 
and holds a high rank among similar works of that 
class. 

It would be impossible to enumerate the exten- 
sive services of Baptist missionaries in the collection 
of scientific specimens for museums of various sorts 
in this country. Probably few Baptist missionaries 
to any land have ever gone forth without returning 
with more or less valuable examples of the geology, 
botany, entomology, etc., of the lands to which they 
have gone. The physical departments and collec- 
tions of every Baptist institution in this country 
will testify to the diligence of the missionaries in 
this respect. Few can be found where there are 
not at least some contributions made by our Baptist 
missionaries, and many institutions outside of Bap- 
tist ranks have been glad to acknowledge their in- 
debtedness to our missionaries for valuable contri- 
butions to their scientific collections. If these scat- 
tered contributions could be gathered in one, the 
aggregate would be found to be a large and valuable 
collection of objects of scientific value, illustrating 
not only the geology and botany of various countries, 
but all departments of scientific research, including 
the chiefest of all sciences, ethnology and social life. 

In this connection special mention ought to be 
made of the large collections of scientific objects 
brought from Central Africa by Mr. J. H. Camp, 
who was for several years in charge of the mission 
.steamer, the " Henry "Reed," on the Upper Congo 



218 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

River. Twice the Smithsonian Institution at Wash- 
ington, D. C, sent out to him through the Ameri- 
can Baptist Missionary Union, full collecting out- 
fits and supplies, and on his last return to this 
country he brought with him more than one hun- 
dred cases of specimens illustrating the geology, 
mineralogy, entomology, zoology, etc., of Central 
Africa, as well as specimens of the valuable and 
precious woods of those vast interior forests which 
must be the supply for the civilized world in years 
to come. The whole expense of the transport of 
this collection was paid by the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution. 

Philology. — By the circumstances in which 
they have been placed, the service of Baptist mis- 
sionaries to linguistic science have been of peculiar 
value and importance. Placed among many peo- 
ples whose languages had never been reduced to 
writing, they have performed this service in the 
interests of the missionary work, and at the same 
time added an immense store of information to com- 
parative linguistic study. The brilliant achieve- 
ments of Baptist missionaries in this work have 
been widely acknowledged. In Burma alone the 
number of languages reduced to writing embraces 
the Sgaw-Karen and Pwo-Karen, as well as many 
minor variations of these two leading dialects, such 
as the Bwe, Paku, etc. The Chin language has 
also been reduced to written form, and, last of all, 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 219 

by the labors of Doctor Cushing, Rev. W. H. 
Roberts, and especially Rev. Ola Hanson, who was 
sent out for that particular work, the Kachin lan- 
guage, spoken by several millions of people, has 
been put into written form, and a full system of 
romanizing perfected, which has been accepted by 
the government of British India. These linguistic 
services in Burma alone have been sufficient to earn 
the gratitude of all scientists. In addition, we find 
that in Assam the same service has been rendered, 
and the dialect of the large, active Garo tribe has 
been reduced to written form, and also two dialects 
of the numerous and powerful Naga tribes — the 
Angami and the Ao — while a beginning has been 
made in several minor dialects, as the Mikir, etc. 

In no other of the American Baptist mission 
fields has this service been necessary except in 
Africa. The various dialects of the Congo people 
are branches of the great Bantu group of languages, 
but the variations in different localities are such 
that each dialect can be understood only over a 
limited area, and all printing, to be comprehended, 
must be of different form for the varied dialects. 
The Kikongo has been reduced to writing by vari- 
ous persons, and Doctor Sims, of Leopoldville, who 
has received the cross of the Legion of Honor from 
the French Government, and has also been deco- 
rated by the government of Belgium for his eminent 
medical services, has made a dictionary of the 
Kiteke, and also a vocabulary of the Kiyansi. Much 



220 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

work in other Congo dialects has been done by other 
missionaries, and similar services have been ren- 
dered to the world by missionaries of the Southern 
Baptist Convention in the Yoruba country of West 
Africa. 

Literature. — In enumerating the services of 
Baptist missionaries to literature, the first place 
must be given to Judson's translation of the Bible 
into the Burman language. That language was 
already in a written form when Judson went to 
Burma, but no real attempt had been made to con- 
nect it with the English, and no literature of West- 
ern nations existed in the Burman tongue. Judson, 
making his own vocabulary as he went along, made 
a translation of the Bible into Burman, which has 
done for that language what Luther's Bible did for 
the German, and the translation of 1611 did for the 
English tongue. The translation was so wonder- 
fully accurate that but little revision has ever been 
necessary, and the work of translation need never 
be repeated. Doctor Judson also prepared an 
English-Burman dictionary, which has been, and 
still is, the standard work of that character. A 
large amount of literature, religious and secular, 
has been produced by Baptist missionaries in Burma, 
especially in the way of tracts and school-books. 
All the literature in the various Karen tongues owes 
its existence entirely to the Baptist missionaries. 
The whole Bible was translated into the Sgaw- 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 221 

Karen dialect by Francis Mason, d. d. ; into the 
Pwo-Karen by Rev. D. L. Brayton ; into Shan by 
J. N. Cushing, D. d., who has also prepared a dic- 
tionary of that language for English readers. School- 
books of all grades, from primary to scientific, philo- 
sophical, and theological, have been brought forth 
in great numbers by the missionaries, as well as a 
vast quantity of religious literature which has been 
circulated largely and freely among the people. 

Passing to Assam, Dr. Nathan Brown, one of the 
early Baptist missionaries in that country, enjoyed 
the high privilege of first giving the New Testament 
to the Assamese. Other books of the Bible were 
translated by several missionaries, but the work of 
completing the translation of the Old Testament, 
and giving to the Assamese the full Bible, has been 
in charge of Rev. A. K. Gurney for a number of 
years. The translation is completed and the full 
Bible in Assamese will be offered to the people in 
1901. Aside from this may be mentioned the As- 
samese English dictionary, prepared by Dr. Miles 
Bronson ; and much work of revision and transla- 
tion of Scriptures, tracts, and other religious litera- 
ture has been done by Rev. P. H. Moore, of Now- 
gong. In Garo many portions of Scripture have 
been prepared by Rev. M. C. Mason and Rev. E. 
G. Phillips in the dialect of that enterprising peo- 
ple, as well as school-books and other translations, 
especially those made necessary by the progress of 
their missionary work. 



L\L\L AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Passing to India we find the whole New Testa- 
ment translated and revised by Dr. Lymau Jewett, 
in a form which is still in use in the Baptist mis- 
sions among the Telugus. Their beautiful language, 
the Italian of India, has also been enriched with 
other portions of Scripture, school-books, theologi- 
cal works, and a large number of religious tracts 
and smaller publications. In Burma, Assam, and 
among the Telugus, religious periodicals in the ver- 
nacular are prepared and issued regularly by the 
missionaries, especially for the benefit of the Chris- 
tian converts. 

While the Chinese and Japanese were written 
languages before the Baptist missionaries reached 
those countries, yet a vast amount of work has been 
done by them in the translation of the Scriptures 
and the preparation of religious and secular litera- 
ture. Rev. Josiah Goddard translated the whole 
New Testament into the colloquial dialect of Ningpo 
in a version which is still widely in use in that sec- 
tion of China. His son, Rev. J. R. Goddard, com- 
pleted the translation of the Old Testament and 
the work of father and son was united in 1900, giv- 
ing the whole Bible to the people of the Ningpo 
district in the dialect read by the common people. 
At Swatow, much work has been done by Dr. Wil- 
liam Ashmore, Dr. S. B. Partridge, AVilliam Ash- 
more, Jr., and others, in the translation of Scrip- 
tures and preparation of religious literature along 
the same lines. Dr. Nathan Brown, who first gave 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 223 

the New Testament to the Assamese, later in life 
became a missionary to Japan, and enjoyed the 
unique distinction of having given the New Testa- 
ment also to the Japanese in a version which is by 
many considered to be the best in use among the 
Japanese people. He led the way also in using the 
hana, or pure Japanese native character, in printing, 
the usual method of printing Japanese having been 
so to interlard the Japanese characters with Chinese 
as to make it difficult for the common people to 
learn to read. Doctor Brown's example has had a 
large influence upon Japanese printing, and the use 
of Chinese characters is to be abolished in Japan, 
and either Doctor Brown's method or the Roman 
characters adopted for printing for the Japanese 
people. 

The same service which has been rendered to 
the Karens of Burma and the hill tribes of Assam 
by our Baptist missionaries, is now being rendered 
for the people of the Congo by their Baptist brethren 
in that region. The Gospels have been translated 
into the Kikongo, the Kiteke, and other dialects, 
and a beginning made in the preparation of school- 
books, especially those of a primary character, for 
these untaught but intelligent people. The services 
which Baptist missionaries have rendered to the 
various peoples among whom they have labored, by 
the introduction of an elevated and elevating litera- 
ture, both religions and secular, are inestimable, 
and cannot be properly judged by the bare state- 



224 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ments which have been given. How much of spirit- 
ual and intellectual life has come and will come 
from these services can only be rightly known by 
the future development of those to whom they have 
been given. 

Education. — Next to the preaching of the gospel 
and the translation of the Bible, schools must be con- 
sidered as an important element of missionary work. 
While American Baptist missionaries have never 
placed the principal emphasis on schools as an evan- 
gelizing agency, they have ever been ready and zeal- 
ous in establishing and conducting schools for the 
broadening and deepening of the religious interest 
and the training of Christian workers who should be 
prepared to labor intelligently and usefully among 
their own people. In Burma, aside from the theo- 
logical seminary at Insein, near Rangoon, which 
has now been enlarged to include work for all 
races, there is also in Rangoon a Baptist college in 
affiliation with the University of Calcutta, and for 
all the numerous races of Burma. The Sgaw-Karen 
Normal and Industrial Institute at Bassein, and nu- 
merous high schools at Rangoon, Moulmein, and at 
other of the larger stations, the Baptist Mission Girls' 
School at Kemendine in Rangoon, and the Morton 
Lane Seminary at Moulmein, also the schools for 
boys and girls of all the various races of Burma found 
in every mission station, as at Tavoy, Toungoo, 
Shwegyin, Henzada, Mandalay, etc., and the hun- 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 225 

dreds of primary schools in the scattered villages 
throughout the length and breadth of Burma, are 
rendering a service to the civilizing and enlighten- 
ing of the polyglot people of that country which 
cannot be suitably estimated or described. 

The same sort of work is being done on all the 
mission fields. In Assam we find the high school 
at Tura and the industrial school, which has also 
done much for the Garo people. There are many 
schools in all the Christian Garo villages, as well as 
at the various missions stations, both in the plains 
and on the hills. A school for training Christian 
workers among the Nagas is maintained at Impur. 

At the head of Baptist educational work in the 
Telugu mission is the theological seminary at Rama- 
patam, occupying one of the finest educational build- 
ings in southern India, erected at a cost of fifteen 
thousand dollars. The Baptist Mission College at 
Ongole, established by the energy of Dr. John E. 
Clough, has been affiliated with the Madras Uni- 
versity as a second-grade college. The Bucknell 
Memorial Industrial School, at Nellore, is a prom- 
ising feature of the mission, as well as schools at all 
the mission stations throughout the Telugu mis- 
sion. The value of the education which these Bap- 
tist mission schools has given to the peoples of 
Burma, Assam, and India is fully recognized by the 
government of India, which cordially appropriates 
money for school buildings, as well as for the con- 
duct of the school work every year. 



226 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

In the missions in China there is a biblical school 
at Shaohing, for the training of native preachers, a 
biblical class at Swatow, also, for the same purpose, 
a training school for Bible women, and schools for 
Christian girls and boys at Swatow, Canton, Teng- 
chow, Ningpo, Kinhwa, and other places, which 
are doing much to prepare the Christian converts 
for that development of China which is sure to come 
in the near future. As China recovers from the 
social and political earthquake of 1900 the value 
of the training acquired by the Christian converts 
in Baptist and other mission schools will be recog- 
nized and will bring them to the front ; and instead 
of being despised and persecuted, as they now very 
generally are, these Christians educated by the mis- 
sionaries will be fitted to be leaders of their people 
in the onward march of enlightenment and civiliza- 
tion. 

Baptist educational work in Japan is not yet ex- 
tensive, but most excellent work is being done by 
the Baptist theological seminary at Yokohama, in 
the preparation of preachers for the Baptist mis- 
sions. A Baptist academy has been established at 
Tokyo, a boys' school in Osaka, and most excellent 
service is being done for Japanese girls in the 
Sarah Curtis Home at Tokyo, the Mary L. Colby 
Home at Yokohama, in the Heinrich Memorial 
Home at Chofu, a suburb of Shimonoseki in south- 
western Japan, and at the Ella O. Patrick Home 
in Sendai. 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 227 

The educational force of the Baptist mission on 
the Congo is represented by a biblical training 
school at Banza Manteke for the preparation of 
native preachers and evangelists, a normal school at 
Lukunga for the training of teachers and Christian 
workers, and a school at Leopoldville, under the care 
of Doctor Sims, which combines both literary and 
industrial features. Eight dhTerent tribes have been 
represented at the same time in this school, the most 
of them coming from the upper river, to which in 
due time they will be fitted to return and become 
leaders and centers of light among their own peo- 
ple. There are also smaller schools at each of the 
mission stations. The Yoruba mission sustains 
schools needed for the education of the children of 
Christians and the training of Christian helpers. 
The excellent school for girls in connection with 
the Southern Baptist mission, in Bahia, Brazil, has 
already been mentioned, as well as the schools for 
the higher education of young men and young 
women at Saltillo, Mexico. 

Sociology. — The advantages which accrue to 
every nation through the presence of missionaries 
are well known in every country and community 
into which our Baptist missionaries have gone. They 
have performed a service for the social improvement 
of the people which has been widely and cordially 
recognized by all those competent to form a judgment 
in the matter. In Burma, the wild and oppressed 



228 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

and scattered Karen tribes have been largely brought 
to become obedient and loyal citizens through the 
efforts of Baptist missions and the Karen Christians 
connected with them. In speaking of the develop- 
ment of the Karens of Burma, the Administration 
Report for 1880-1881 says : 

Foremost in this work have been American mission- 
aries of the Baptist persuasion. There are now attached 
to this communion no less than four hundred and fifty- 
one Christian Karen parishes, most of which support 
their own church, their own Karen pastor, and their own 
parish school, and many of which subscribe considerable 
sums in money and kind for the furtherance of mission- 
ary work among Karens and other hill races beyond the 
British border. Christianity continues to spread among 
the Karens to the great advantage of the commonwealth, 
and the Christian Karen communities are distinctly more 
industrious, better educated, and more law-abiding than 
the Burman and Karen villages around them. The Karen 
race and the British government owe a great debt to the 
American missionaries who have, under Providence, 
wrought this change among the Karens of Burma. 

The same sort of service has been rendered by 
Baptist missionaries wherever they have labored 
among other wild tribes. In Assam, the Garos 
have been reduced to order and submission to Brit- 
ish authority largely through the influence of the 
Baptist missionaries and the Christian converts. 
Rev. E. W. Clark established his residence among 
the Angami Nagas far in advance of government 
outposts, and when the English annexed the Naga 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 229 

territory, those in his immediate locality submitted 
without opposition. Prof. Haraprasad Sastri, senior 
professor of Sanscrit in the Presidency College, 
Calcutta, says : " Christian missionaries of various 
denominations have done much good in advancing 
education, in reclaiming hill tribes, and giving shape 
to their languages." 

One of the most illustrious examples of social 
improvement by missionary effort is found in its 
effect upon the degraded outcaste population of 
India. Of the fifty-five thousand converts of the 
American Telugu mission, all but a very few belong 
to the outcastes, who were despised and oppressed, 
and, in fact, in practical slavery to the higher classes 
and castes. The great multitude of these converts 
have been but recently won to Christianity, and 
Christian education has not had time to have its 
full effect upon the most of them. Yet enough has 
been done to show what will be the final influence 
of this elevating force upon that people. Children 
of Christian Telugu converts, trained in the mission 
schools, the college, and theological seminary, come 
out on a full intellectual equality with the proud 
and haughty Brahmaus and members of the upper 
castes. In conversation and in religious contro- 
versy with these representatives of the despised out- 
castes, the Brahman often finds himself at a dis- 
advantage. His intellectual acumen and training 
are in vain against the broad and trained intelli- 
gence of these Christians. In the civil service ex- 



230 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

animations, the member of the upper caste finds 
himself seated side by side with the despised out- 
caste trained in Christian schools, and very fre- 
quently, to his shame and indignation, finds the 
coveted prize awarded to one whom he has consid- 
ered beneath his contempt. The haughty Brahman 
is humbled, his pride is brought low, and even in his 
shame and anger he cannot help recognizing the 
power of the Christian influence and the training 
which has raised these despised outcastes to a rivalry 
with himself in intelligence and power. 

Another special influence of Christian training 
and illustration of its power is found in the mis- 
sions in Africa. The curse of the coast region of 
Africa is the rum and gin introduced from civilized 
countries. By his temperament the untaught Afri- 
can is incapable of resisting the taste for alcoholic 
liquors. The art of self-control is unknown to him. 
Once he tastes alcohol it becomes his master, and it 
is for this reason that the introduction of rum and 
alcoholic liquors among the native peoples of Africa 
means death and destruction to the people, and often- 
times depopulation of whole districts. Against this 
onrushing tide of destruction the only opposing in- 
fluence which has been found to stand is the Chris- 
tian convert. He has learned the art of self-control. 
He has been taught the benefits of self-mastery ; 
he has learned to subordinate selfish desires and 
passions to higher thoughts and to nobler good ; and 
it is safe to say that where rum is introduced on the 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 231 

coast of Africa the only temperate people to be 
found are the Christians. If Africa is to be saved 
from the destruction of drunkenness, that twin curse 
to African slavery, the salvation must come through 
the converts of the Christian missions. In this 
respect our American Baptist missionaries are ren- 
dering most noble service. Total abstainers them- 
selves, as being connected with an American mission, 
they insist on total abstinence on the part of the 
native converts ; and wherever the heathen about 
them are capable of appreciating social order, pros- 
perity, health, and happiness, their example and in- 
fluence will have a profound effect for good upon 
all the peoples of Africa. 

Commerce. — The influence of Christian missions 
in the development of trade is at the present time 
well understood. Wherever missionaries go the 
character of the people is elevated, and their de- 
mands are increased. As one missionary says, 
" The first call of a convert from heathenism is for^ 
clean clothes and a better house." The spirit of 
the gospel is a spirit of order. The missionary work 
is a standing illustration of the truth that " cleanli- 
ness is next to godliness." In all countries where 
Baptist missionaries have gone, they have had a 
pronounced effect on the development of trade with 
the natives. The Karens as a heathen people have 
almost no wants which they cannot themselves 
supply. They build their own simple houses, 



232 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

make their own clothing, and provide their own 
food. The introduction of Christianity among 
the Karens is an example of its effects upon any 
people of a similar wild and degraded character. 
The Karens are not deficient in business enterprise, 
nor are they lacking in men of property and wealth. 
Converted to Christianity, these men have demanded 
better homes ; others around them become desirous 
of the same. Their clothing becomes more ample, 
and of a better character. No longer are their sim- 
ple and rude arts able to supply their wants. All 
the Christian communities in Burma are on the way 
to development to the condition of the Karen Chris- 
tian communities in Bassein. This is a model and 
a standard for the social effects of missionary work. 
Here we find a people, formerly wild and savage, 
become a prosperous, orderly, and enterprising com- 
munity. Their churches they have built by their 
own means ; their schools are largely supported by 
themselves ; for their normal and industrial insti- 
tute they have built a fine and ample building, 
called the Kothabyu Memorial Hall, and this school, 
largely maintained by their own resources, turns 
out every year teachers and artisans fitted to labor 
for the development of their own people. They 
conduct a lumber business, with a sawmill, having 
all the improved facilities of civilized commerce. 
This mill is a public enterprise, and all its income 
is devoted to the maintenance of their school. 
Here we find a brilliant and impressive illustra- 



CIVILIZATION AND BAPTIST MISSIONS 233 

tion of what Christianity will do for the lowest of 
peoples. 

The whole business of Burma in all departments 
has also received an immense impetus from the 
labors of Baptist missionaries and the converts they 
have gathered. Mechanical and agricultural im- 
plements are imported from America ; clothing of 
every sort is demanded ; the arts of the printing 
presses are brought into use ; the improved houses 
required by the people, as well as the schoolhouses 
and churches which they erect, create a demand for 
builders' hardware and other materials, and there is 
hardly a line of the manufacturers of civilized lands 
which is not required to some extent by the con- 
verts gained from heathenism. 

What is true of Burma is true also of Assam in 
a less degree, and of the converts in every heathen 
country. Civilization will not produce Christian- 
ity, but Christianity always produces civilization. 
Wherever the missionary goes, there follows an in- 
crease of trade. This is true in China, in Japan, 
but more especially of the Christian converts start- 
ing from a lower state, as among the hill tribes of 
Burma, Assam, and the peoples of Africa. Here 
in Africa a larger commerce will find its chief en- 
couragement from Christian missions. Secular com- 
merce seeks its own aim and the largest profit. 
It seeks to obtain the productions of Africa at the 
lowest cost, and to pay for them as largely as possi- 
ble in alcoholic liquors. This policy is sure dc- 



234 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

struction to every form of legitimate commerce. It 
depopulates the country, ruins the people, renders 
them drunken, worthless, lazy. A section of country 
treated in this way soon ceases to yield any possi- 
ble profit to those who have introduced the means 
of destruction. Even the governments of large por- 
tions of Africa are now finding it necessary to pro- 
hibit the importation of alcohol in the interests of 
commerce alone. Only vigorous, healthy, enter- 
prising peoples can be of assistance in the develop- 
ment of the commerce of Africa. If rum goes in 
trade goes out. In the development of a larger 
trade in the Congo Valley, and other parts of Africa, 
the Baptist missionaries are rendering and will ren- 
der most judicious and helpful service, and their 
contributions toward commerce in the highest and 
best sense are larger than can be estimated in figures. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 

THE diversified missionary activities of the Bap- 
tists of the United States, as described in the 
preceding pages, although experiencing abundant 
prosperity, yet because of the separation of interests 
involved, have never made that impression upon the 
religious world which their importance would justify. 
The American Baptist Missionary Union has long 
stood at the head of the foreign missionary societies 
of the world in the number of converts gathered 
into its mission churches, but is ranked as the eighth 
among the large missionary societies of the world in 
point of income. It has even been attempted to 
show that the Baptists of America are divided into 
several denominations because of their separation in 
missionary work, and the head of the religious de- 
partment of the United States census in 1890 actu- 
ally reported the Baptists of this country as three 
denominations. It is easily discovered, however, 
that there is no real foundation for such a division, 
since all the churches are one in polity, both mem- 
bers and pastors are transferred among the churches 
without any of the formalities which exist in passing 
from one denomination to another, and to all intents 

235 



236 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

and purposes they are one denomination. It is also 
easily discovered that if diversity of missionary ac- 
tivities should be held to form a denominational 
distinction, the Baptists of the United States must 
be divided not only into two or three, but into seven 
or eight different denominations, since there are at 
least this number of separate and independent mis- 
sionary societies enjoying the peculiar loyalty and 
support of the Baptists in different portions of the 
country. It is greatly to be regretted that the 
authority of the United States census has been given 
to so unjust and unwarranted a division of those who 
are really one. 

The separation in missionary activities has also 
operated to cause the benevolent contributions of 
Baptists to appear smaller than they really are. In 
other denominations, where we find the whole de- 
nominational effort in foreign missions and in home 
missions concentrated into one society, which not 
only carries on all the foreign missions, but all home 
mission work of every character, with perhaps a 
separate Board for educational work, and a few 
other minor societies, the contributions are massed 
in a sum which appears large in comparison with 
the receipts of even the largest of our Baptist mis- 
sionary societies. In order to stand on a parity 
with other denominations, the contributions of the 
Baptists of the United States for the two foreign 
missionary societies, the American Baptist Mission- 
ary Union and the Foreign Mission Board of the 



THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 237 

Southern Baptist Convention, should be consoli- 
dated, including the contributions to the woman's 
foreign missionary societies; and the contributions 
for home missions should include not only the re- 
ceipts of the American Baptist Home Mission 
Society, and the Home Mission Board of the 
Southern Baptist Convention, and Missionary De- 
partment of the American Baptist Publication Soci- 
ety, but the combined receipts of the Baptist Con- 
ventions of all the States and Territories, and the 
multitude of other missionary societies, none of 
which are reported in the general denominational 
statistics, but all of which represent activities which 
are included in the home mission work of the larger 
Boards of other denominations which, because of 
this combination, have been supposed to contrib- 
ute more largely to home as well as to foreign 
missions than do the Baptists. If, however, all the 
sums contributed to similar work as that reported 
in the larger societies of other religious bodies were 
added together in one sum it would be found that, so 
far as can be gathered, for the year 1899, for exam- 
ple, the entire contributions of Baptists for missionary 
purposes amounted to the grand total of one million 
nine hundred and fifty-three thousand seventy-eight 
dollars and twenty-nine cents, a sum in excess of the 
largest contributions for similar purposes reported 
by any other religious denomination in the United 
States. This is only for current benevolent pur- 
poses, and does not include contributions to educa- 



238 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

tional and other institutions for endowment, nor the 
income of the multitude of city missions and other 
enterprises of that character supported by Baptists. 
After a careful study through a series of years, it is 
the conviction of the writer that in regard to the 
amount contributed for benevolence, the Baptist de- 
nomination does, as a matter of fact, stand first in 
the United States. Of the above amount, seven 
hundred and thirty-six thousand one hundred and 
twelve dollars and twenty-eight cents was given for 
foreign missionary work, and one million two hun- 
dred and sixteen thousand nine hundred and sixty- 
six dollars and one cent for missions in the United 
States. 

In this volume an attempt has been made first to 
tell the story of American Baptist missions as begun 
and carried on under the name of the General Mis- 
sionary Convention, then to give an account of the 
founding of the other missionary societies of the Bap- 
tists in this country, and to indicate the lines of work 
in the foreign missionary enterprise to which each 
of these societies addressed itself, and finally to give 
as full and comprehensive a history as the limits of 
the volume would allow of the later years of the 
missions of American Baptists on the different fields, 
combining in one view the operations of various so- 
cieties which are engaged upon the same field. The 
narrative covers a period of only eighty-eight years ; 
but what a marvelous growth from the small, weak, 
and disunited body of Baptists in America in 1812 



THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 239 

to the magnificent denomination of 1 900 ! Then there 
was not a single institution or interest which engaged 
the attention of all the Baptists in this country. 
Now six theological seminaries and a multitude of 
colleges and other schools of a lesser grade indicate 
the growth in educational lines from one college, 
now known as Brown University, to the present 
large development. In churches and denomina- 
tional strength the Baptists stand among the first 
in the country, and by means of their great and 
powerful missionary organizations, they exercise a 
potent influence in the religious activities of the en- 
tire world. 

On April 23, 1900, there died in the city of 
Rangoon, Burma, a missionary at the age of ninety- 
two years, whose life more than spanned the entire 
period covered by American Baptist foreign mis- 
sions. At the birth of Rev. Durlin L. Brayton, 
both his nation and his denomination were weak 
and insignificant among the civil and religious forces 
of the world. He lived to see his country advance 
from a little people, not yet wholly freed from the 
domination of the mother country and without influ- 
ence in the world at large, to a powerful nation of 
seventy millions of people, whose word is acknowl- 
edged to carry the balance of power in the delicate 
international questions pending among the nations 
of the earth. He saw his denomination spring with 
almost startling rapidity from its despised position 
among the religious bodies of America to hold a 



240 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

foremost position, not only at home but in world- 
wide missionary work in all the earth. He entered 
upon his missionary labors the same year that Queen 
Victoria was raised to the throne of Great Britain 
and Ireland, and saw the small area of British 
possessions in India extended to cover the entire 
peninsula of Hindustan, with the added provinces 
of Burma and Assam, and the title, " Empress of 
India," added to that of " Queen of Great Britain 
and Ireland." When he entered the missionary field 
the countries open to Christian missions were few, and 
the labors of the missionaries were surrounded with 
immense difficulties, manifold perils, and obstacles 
apparently almost insurmountable. He lived to see 
every nation of importance on the face of the earth 
open to the labors of the messengers of Christ, the 
powerful and dominant religions of Asia gradually 
fading before the increasing splendor of the Sun of 
Righteousness, to view the nations of the earth 
largely subdued to the power and influence of na- 
tions bearing the name of Christ, and to behold the 
religion of Jesus Christ established as the leading 
and dominant religion of the earth, by which not 
only the laws and customs of Christian nations and 
their intercourse with each other are shaped, but to 
the principles of which the legislation and political 
conduct of even pagan nations were compelled, in 
some measure, at least, to conform. If any prophet, 
pointing to the little boy among the green hills of 
Vermont, had ventured at that time to predict one- 



THE PAST AND THE FUTURE 241 

half of the growth of the United States in power, in 
wealth, and in the appliances of civilization, or the 
splendid progress of the religion of Jesus Christ in its 
missions and its influence among the nations of the 
earth, and had named the results which this history 
has shown to have been achieved by the Baptist 
denomination at home and abroad, he would have 
been esteemed as unworthy of attention and as in- 
dulging in the wildest vagaries manufactured out of 
the stuff that dreams are made of. 

In view of the marvelous development of Chris- 
tian missions in the United States of America, and 
of the spread of Christianity and civilization through- 
out the nations of the world, who will dare venture 
to predict what may be seen by the boy now living 
among the hills of New England ? Even before the 
beginning of the twentieth century, China, the only 
great and powerful purely pagan nation remaining 
in the earth, lies at the feet of the leading Christian 
powers. The future of her government, her social 
and commercial development, and largely her relig- 
ious progress, is to be indicated by those who bear 
the name of Christ. It has often been said that 
with China Christian two-thirds of the battle for 
the world-wide extension of the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ would be won. Considering the marvelous 
progress, especially in the latter half of the nine- 
teenth century, what may not, on the most reason- 
able anticipations, be predicted of the twentieth ? 
Long before its first half shall have passed away, 
Q 



242 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

shall not the vision of the prophet be realized when 
a nation shall be born in a day, and the brightest 
visions of the Old Testament prophets, and even of 
the book of Revelation, be realized ? In view of 
the triumph of the gospel in the nineteenth century, 
there are substantial grounds for the assurance, so 
cheering to every servant of Christ, that long before 
the close of the twentieth century the era shall dawn 
when the Redeemer of the world shall become the 
King of nations, and " to him every knee shall 
bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father." 



APPENDIX A 



ENGLISH BAPTISTS AND THEIR MISSIONS 

WHILE American Baptists form by far the larger 
portion of the Baptist body in the world, num- 
bering more than four millions in the United States, 
the Baptists occupy an important and influential 
position in Great Britain, and number between 
three hundred and fifty and four hundred thousand. 
They are divided into two bodies, the General Bap- 
tists and the Particular Baptists, both holding to 
immersion as the only form of baptism, the General 
Baptists being somewhat freer in their views in 
regard to the Communion, but resembling the Bap- 
tists in the United States in a general Calvinistic 
trend in their theological attitude ; while, on the 
other hand, the Particular Baptists are more strict 
in their views in regard to the Lord's Supper, but 
tend toward Arminian views in theology. For 
many years these two bodies conducted their foreign 
missionary work separately ; but a few years ago the 
society of the Particular Baptists was amalgamated 
with the English Baptist Missionary Society, the 
pioneer of modern missionary societies, formed at 
Kettering in 1792. This society, therefore, repre- 

243 



244 APPENDIX A 

sents the entire Baptist body of Great Britain in its 
foreign missionary work. 

The largest missions of the society are in India ; 
but it lias also an important work in China, in the 
Congo Free State, West Africa, in the West Indies, 
in France, in Italy, and in Palestine. 

The missions in India have about seventy-five 
missionaries and one hundred and twenty-five native 
evangelists. The college founded by William Carey 
at Serampore is still maintained as an institution for 
the training of native ministers under this society, 
and the native churches in the vigorous and grow- 
ing mission have recently established the Indian 
Baptist Missionary Society for aggressive work 
under native auspices in various parts of India. 
This society now has branches in the Northwest 
Provinces, in Bengal, East Bengal, and Orissa. It 
is entirely supported by contributions from the 
native churches and already employs four native 
missionaries. A printing press is maintained at 
Calcutta, the continuation of that established by 
William Carey at Serampore, in which a large 
amount of religious printing is done, not only for the 
English Baptist Society but for the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union and other bodies maintaining 
missions in India. Several Anglo-Indian Baptist 
churches are in affiliation with the missions of this 
society, which also has a special work among the 
natives who speak English. The Orissa mission of 
this society is of special interest to American Bap- 



APPENDIX A 245 

tists, as being that with which Rev. Amos Sutton 
was connected, whose address at the meeting of the 
General Missionary Convention at Richmond, in 
1835, was the means of establishing the American 
Baptist Telugu Mission. The society also maintains 
an extremely interesting mission in Ceylon, where 
an affiliated body has been formed called the Ceylon 
Baptist Union. 

The missions of English Baptists in China are 
located in the provinces of Shangtung, Shensi, and 
Shansi. The whole work has been conducted with 
great vigor and success, employing about thirty mis- 
sionaries and more than one hundred and fifty native 
evangelists. A large amount of self-support and 
native management had been developed in connec- 
tion with these missions before the terrible events 
of the year 1900 in China, which resulted in the 
entire removal of the missionary force, as all three 
of these fields were located in the centers of great- 
est disturbance. About ten of the missionaries be- 
came martyrs for the gospel at the hands of the 
murderous mobs, and like all other missions, the 
situation of the English Baptist work in China at 
the close of 1900 was in abeyance awaiting the 
developments of the future. 

The English Baptist mission in the Congo Free 
State has been the most aggressive in advance 
toward the interior and in exploration of any of the 
missions on that field. Especially Rev. George 
Grenfell has done more exploring in the region of 



246 APPENDIX A 

the Upper Congo Valley than any other one man, 
and perhaps more than all others together, with the 
exception of the officers of the Congo Free State. 
By special request of the king of Belgium, Mr. 
Grenfell was released from missionary duties for a 
time that he might become commissioner of the 
State in the delimitation of the frontier between the 
Congo State and the Portuguese territories adjoin- 
ing. The mission occupies ten stations, extending 
from Matadi in Lower Congo, and San Salvador in 
Portuguese Congo, to Yakusu at Stanley Falls, in 
Central Africa. This mission has been conducted 
with great good-will in connection with the Congo 
mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union, 
and in many ways, especially in regard to steamer 
transportation on the Upper Congo, both missions 
have been able to afford assistance one to the other. 
American Baptists have to acknowledge with grati- 
tude many favors which the English Baptist mis- 
sion, with their two steamers, the "Peace" and 
" Good Will," have been able to afford the Ameri- 
can Baptist mission on the Congo. 

The West Indies missions of the English Bap- 
tists report about thirty-five thousand church-mem- 
bers and have largely become self-supporting, espe- 
cially those in Jamaica and in the Bahama group 
are entirely so, with the exception of assistance af- 
forded to Calabar College, in Kingston, Jamaica. 
The Jamaica Baptist Union has been in existence 
fifty years, has held its annual meeting with regu- 



APPENDIX A 247 

larity throughout the half-century, and been of great 
aid in the development of Baptist work on that 
island. 

English Baptist work in France is confined to 
Brittany, and engages the attention of but one mis- 
sionary with six native evangelists, while the mis- 
sions in Italy are more extended, embracing a very 
successful mission in Rome itself, also the missions 
in North Italy, in the Tuscan district, the whole 
comprising six missionaries, with twelve native 
evangelists. 

An exceedingly interesting feature in English 
Baptist missions is that at Nablous, near Jacob's 
Well, in Palestine, maintained by Rev. El. Karey, 
with sub-stations at Samaria and five other places. 
Mr. and Mrs. Karey have suffered much persecu- 
tion, but still continue their work, and much is 
being done by the maintenance of a prosperous girls' 
school, where the future mothers of the district are 
trained in principles of Christianity. 



APPENDIX B 



CANADIAN BAPTISTS AND THEIR MISSIONS 

THE Baptists of Canada, who number about one 
hundred thousand, have two foreign mission- 
ary societies, that of the Maritime Provinces, in- 
cluding Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince 
Edward Island, and the Ontario Board, which is 
also supported by the Baptists in Quebec, Manitoba, 
and the Northwest Territory, as well as the province 
of Ontario. The missions of these two societies, 
however, are practically one, occupying a field of 
the Telugu territory of southeastern India, north of 
the mission of the American Baptist Missionary 
Union. They have felt the influence of the large 
ingathering experienced by the American mission. 
A very successful theological seminary is maintained 
at Simulcotta, and the missions are well organized, 
co-operating with each other in every respect as if 
under the administration of one Board, and uniting 
with the American mission in a Quinquennial Con- 
vention for the consideration and better prosecution 
of Baptist mission work among the Telugu people. 
The native papers and Sunday-school lessons pre- 
pared by the American mission are used in common 

248 



APPENDIX B 249 

by the Canadian laborers and mission churches. For 
all practical purposes the missions of the three so- 
cieties might be considered as one effective force for 
the propagation of the gospel among the Telugus. 
Since 1911 the two Canadian Baptist Foreign Mis- 
sionary Societies have been united in one. 



APPENDIX C 



BAPTISTS IN AUSTRALASIA AND SOUTH AFRICA 

A COMPLETE view of Baptists in the world 
outside of the United States, will also include 
the very respectable and vigorous body of Baptists 
in Australasia, including Australia, Tasmania, and 
New Zealand, Avhere they now number nearly twenty 
thousand. Several large and important churches 
are found in the principal cities of Australia, while 
the Baptists of New Zealand have shown much 
energy and vigor in their work. Australian Bap- 
tists also maintain an independent and separate mis- 
sion of their own in Bengal, India, which, however, 
is working in complete harmony and co-operation 
with the English Baptist mission in that province of 
British India. 

In South Africa Baptists number somewhat more 
than three thousand, covering the territories for- 
merly known as Cape Colony, the Orange Free 
State, and Transvaal, with one church at James- 
town, on the island of St. Helena, which is affiliated 
with the South African Baptist Union. They have 
a periodical called the " South African Baptist," and 
in the rapid development which will come to thi§ 

250 



APPENDIX C 251 

territory, Baptists will undoubtedly share. During 
the war between the English government and the 
Transvaal Republic the work of the Baptist churches, 
especially in the Transvaal and the Orange Free 
State, was entirely interrupted, and the circulation 
of " The South African Baptist " was necessarily 
suspended for a period of six months, as it was im- 
possible to distribute the paper to its subscribers on 
account of the interruption and disorganization of 
the mail facilities. Several of the Baptist pastors 
were compelled to leave their fields, but a number 
heroically remained, although without the promise 
of support, and ministered to the sick and wounded, 
and the prisoners. Several entered the Ambulance 
Corps of the British army, and one Baptist pastor 
was wounded at the battle of Spion Kop. With 
the restoration of peace the work of the churches 
was largely resumed, and the Baptists of South 
Africa look forward with hope and confidence to 
aggressive and prosperous work under better auspices 
than have prevailed in the past. 



APPENDIX D 



= S 






O in M C<1 X C) o m X o» t- O tp tH * W •* 



iSSS 1 



x t n ?i oc k « ;-— — -- x ~i t- o ■* 
m inm ■mJhmnknhn 



BSS^BW "**^ 



MCNHiO 



.£5.s5 



8*81 8 



2^3 



'J" c.a'3 

a sa6 



MS 






::£ 






CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 

TWO HEROIC MISSIONARY PIONEERS 

rpHE honor of establishing the first Protestant 
-*- Christian mission in a heathen land, under 
a purely heathen government and amid absolutely 
heathen surroundings, belongs to Adoniram Jud- 
son and his heroic wife, Ann Hasseltine. Some 
Roman Catholic missionaries had, with great devo- 
tion, exposed themselves to the perils of life in 
purely pagan lands from the time of Francis 
Xavier. There were also Protestant missionaries 
to the heathen before Adoniram Judson; but 
they all began their labors amid certain helpful 
surroundings of civilization. The occupation of 
posts in Southwestern India by the Danes opened 
the way for Bartholomew Ziengenbalg and Chris- 
tian Frederick Schwartz, the pioneers of Christian 
missions in India. The operations of the East 
India Company in Bengal and the establishment of 
their political power and commercial operations 
were the magnets which drew to India John 
Thomas, and after him William Carey. Driven 
from the possessions of the East India Company, 
they simply removed to Serampore, twelve miles 
from Calcutta, which was then under the control of 
the King of Denmark. Even in Burma there were 

253 



254 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

missionaries before the Judsons. Messrs. Chater 
and Mardon, English missionaries, had gone from 
Calcutta to Rangoon and begun missionary oper- 
ations, but they retired from the field discouraged 
by the dangers and difficulties of the attempt. 
Doctor Carey's son, Felix, had also entered upon 
missionary labors in Burma, but at the time of the 
arrival of the Judsons he had been called to Ava to 
render advice to the King of Burma, whose service 
he afterward entered, retiring completely from mis- 
sionary work. It was the peculiar glory of the 
Judsons not only to enter Burma, but to endure 
bravely a life of privations and perils amid the 
barbarous surroundings of Burman heathenism. 
They steadfastly persevered, even when other mis- 
sionaries associated with them retired from the 
field; and in the providence of God firmly estab- 
lished the great Christian mission in Burma, the 
first to be begun and maintained in its early years 
amid absolutely heathen surroundings. 

The heroism of Mr. and Mrs. Judson is greatly 
emphasized by the dread of Burma, which had been 
inspired by what they had learned of that land and 
its people. Such had been the accounts of the wick- 
edness and cruelties of the Burman officials and 
people, that Mr. Judson writes : " A mission to 
Rangoon we had been accustomed to regard with 
feelings of horror." And Mrs. Judson writes, after 
arrival at Rangoon : " It is not three months since 
I looked at this situation with all that dread and 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 255 

horror which you can imagine." Yet when their 
only choice lay between an easy acquiescence in 
the decision of the East India Company to return 
them to England and a life in a country which Mrs. 
Judson called "a land of darkness and the shadow of 
death/' they unhesitatingly and eagerly decided for 
Burma. 

Another element which gives the heroic character 
of this act an added luster is the fact that the Jud- 
sons went to Burma, committing themselves to the 
tender mercies of the heathen, when as yet they had 
no assurance of support in their work, or even pro- 
vision for their lives. In becoming Baptists they 
knew that they severed their connection with the 
body which had sent them forth. They no longer 
looked to the American Board, and they had not yet 
learned the response of American Baptists to their 
appeals, through Luther Rice, for support. At 
Rangoon they were almost wholly cut off from com- 
munication with the civilized lands. Although 
they arrived there in July, 1813, they did not write 
to America until January 7, 1814, six months after 
reaching Burma, since there was no means of com- 
munication in all that time. Even then they were 
obliged to send their letters to England, in the hope 
that peace might have been declared between that 
country and the United States, and means would be 
found to forward their letters to their friends. Seldom 
had they any news from civilized lands. Mrs. Jud- 
6on writes : " You can hardly form an idea with 



256 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

what eagerness we receive every scrap of intelli- 
gence from any part of the civilized world." 
For two years and a half they were without intelli- 
gence from America. Utterly separated not only 
from friends but from every possible help from their 
former associates in civilization, they were yet calm 
and hopeful in their work. Mr. Judson writes that 
he was studying the Burman language, " trusting 
that for all the future 'God will provide. , We 
have this consolation that it was the evident dispen- 
sation of God that brought us to this country, and, 
still further, that if the world was all before us 
... we should not desire to leave Burma." 

Of the sufferings which they endured in this 
pagan land, and the tremendous struggle which it 
cost them to maintain their infant mission among 
the Burmans, the whole Christian world is already 
fully informed. The house which they occupied 
was outside of the walls of the city of Rangoon, in 
a district infested with numerous bands of robbers 
and murderers, and they were daily exposed to 
peril of insult and nightly to danger of robbery and 
murder. They afterward removed their home within 
the city, where there was more security, but a great 
fire, which destroyed about one-third of the town, 
again compelled them to go outside of the walls. 
How they escaped the numerous perils from the 
savage people and from the cruel whims of the 
officials cannot be explained, except that the hand 
of the Lord delivered them. 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 257 

After a short time Mr. and Mrs. Judson were 
joined by other missionaries. At one period it be- 
came necessary for Mr. Judson to go to Avaken to 
endeavor to obtain native assistants. He expected 
to be absent only a few weeks, but a storm drove 
his vessel to the coast of India, and the privations 
endured on board brought him to the verge of the 
grave. During his absence of more than three 
months there was such a disturbance among the 
Burmans that the missionaries who were there all 
left the country and abandoned the mission, with 
the exception of Mrs. Judson, who, single-handed 
and alone, heroically resolved to remain in that hos- 
tile land, to maintain the mission and to await the 
return of her husband. Almost unparalleled dan- 
gers threatened the infant mission ; but, maintained 
by the courage and consecration of its founders, it 
survived the perils of its earlier years, and has 
become one of the brightest ornaments in the vic- 
torious crown of the church of Christ on earth. The 
Burman Mission stands as the perpetual memorial 
of Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Judson, the first 
Protestant missionaries to a purely pagan land. 

CENTENNIAL DATES IN AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

1812. 

February 6. Adoniram Judson and four other Con- 
gregationalists were ordained in Salem, destined 
to establish an American mission in the East. 

February 7. Initial steps were taken in the First 



258 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Baptist Church of Salem to form a Baptist auxil- 
iary to Carey's work at Serampore. 

February 18. Rev. Luther Rice and Messrs. Nott 
and Mills sailed from Philadelphia, in the Har- 
mony, for Calcutta, India. 

February 19. The American Board missionaries, 
Adoniram Judson and Samuel Newell, with their 
wives, sail out of Salem Harbor on the "Cara- 
van," bound for Calcutta. 

April 23. In the First Baptist Church was formed 
the Salem Bible Translation and Foreign Mission 
Society to aid Eastern translations principally, 
and possibly to assist in sending a missionary 
from America to India — the first Baptist society 
formed to promote foreign missions. 

May (date of course unknown). Judson began 
study of the subject of baptism. 

June 17. The ship " Caravan " arrived at Calcutta. 

August 27. Judson communicates to English mis- 
sionaries his changed views, and requests immer- 
sion for himself and wife. 

August 31. Wrote a letter to Thomas Baldwin, 
d. d., pastor of Second Baptist Church, Boston, 
acknowledging the helpfulness of his book on 
baptism and enclosing a copy of the letter above 
referred to. 

September 1 . Wrote the secretary of the American 
Board, advising him of his changed views, and 
proposal to obtain scriptural baptism, at the same 
time formally resigning his appointment. 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 259 

Wrote a letter to Doctor Baldwin enclosing 
a copy of the above letter, and indicating his 
willingness to become the missionary of a Baptist 
society in America, should such be formed. 

Wrote a letter to Rev. Lucius Bolles, of Salem, 
Mass., referring to interview before his sailing, 
advising of his changed views, revealing his new 
plans, and throwing himself on the sympathies of 
his new " Baptist brethren in the United States." 

September 6. Judson and his wife immersed in 
the Lai Bazar Chapel, Calcutta, by Rev. William 
Ward. 

September 19. "Tartar" sails for Boston with let- 
ters conveying these startling announcements. 

October 20-22. Letters written by Judson, Rice, 
Carey, and Marshman to Baptists in Boston, 
New York, and Philadelphia, announcing the 
changed views of Luther Rice and proposing the 
establishment of an American Baptist Mission 
in the East. 

November 1. Rev. Luther Rice baptized in Cal- 
cutta by Rev. William Ward. 

November 30. Judson, Rice, and Mrs. Judson, 
now Baptists, leave Calcutta, at the order of East 
India Company. ^ 

1813. 

January 17. Arrive at Isle of France, off Mada- 
gascar. 
January 19. "Tartar" arrives in Boston, with let- 



260 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ters written on September first, bringing news of 
the change in the Judsons' situation. 

January 25. Union Missionary Concert started in 
Boston. 

January 31. Public Anniversary of the Salem 
Bible Translation and Foreign Mission Society, 
with aroused enthusiasm to assume the tasks 
providentially set before it, 

February 8. Baptist Society for Propagating the 
Gospel in India and other Foreign Parts formed 
in Boston. 

March 4. Money voted by Salem Society for For- 
eign Missions for Carey and for Judson. 

March 5. Letter from above Society to Baptist 
Missionary Society of England, requesting Jud- 
son's appointment by that society, the Boston 
Society to contribute to his support. 

March 15. Luther Rice, by mutual agreement be- 
tween Judson and himself, sails from Isle of 
France for United States, via St. Salvador. 

N. B. While Boston Baptists are formulating 
a policy of administration for sustaining Judson, 
the future organizer of American Baptist Mis- 
sions is sailing toward his stupendous task. 

May 6. Letter from the society to Judson announ- 
cing the decision appointing him as its mission- 
ary. Thus American Baptists about Boston 
formally assumed definite foreign missionary 
obligations. 

May 7. Judson and wife left Isle of France. 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 261 

June 4. Arrive at Madras. 

June 22. Sail from Madras for Rangoon. 

July 13. Arrive after tempestuous voyage at Ran- 
goon, Burma. 

September. Luther Rice arrives in Boston. Con- 
ference with leaders of the new society in Boston. 

October. First annual meeting of the society. 
About one thousand dollars had been raised for 
the purposes of the society. 

October 28. Baptist Missionary Society of Vir- 
ginia formed at Richmond, Va. 

December 1. A Baptist Missionary Society formed 
in Philadelphia. 

December 17. Savannah Baptist Society for For- 
eign Missions organized in Savannah, Ga. 

1814. 

February 21. The Baptist Foreign Missionary 
Society of New York organized. 

February-April. Twelve other local Baptist Mis- 
sionary Societies formed in various parts of the 
United States. 

May 18. Formation at Philadelphia of " The 
General Missionary Convention of the Baptist 
Denomination in the United States of America 
for Foreign Missions." (See pp. 9-19.) 

CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCES 

The centennial of the permanent establishment of 
the First Modern Christian Mission in a purely 



262 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

pagan country by Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine 
Judson will be appropriately observed both in 
America and in Burma. In the United States the 
centennial observances will follow the locations and 
dates given in the preceding list of centennial dates, 
and the most noteworthy of these dates will be ob- 
served by Baptist churches throughout the country, 
culminating in the anniversary of the American 
Baptist Foreign Mission Society in Boston, Mass., 
in May, 1914. 

The centennial of most peculiar interest will, 
however, occur in Rangoon, Burma, in the cele- 
bration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the 
landing of the Judsons in that city, July 13, 1813. 
Because of the hot season, which precludes all un- 
usual exertions in July and during the summer 
months, the celebration is postponed until the 
autumn. This is especially for the benefit of the 
visitors from America, of whom it is expected there 
will be a large number. A party is announced to 
sail from San Francisco August 23, 1913, to reach 
Burma by way of Japan, China, and the Philip- 
pines, and another party will sail from Boston 
in October, both meeting in Rangoon, Burma, in 
November, for the elaborate series of celebrations 
which are being arranged. These will include not 
only proper observances in Rangoon in commemora- 
tion of the centennial, but journeys to the principal 
mission stations in Burma, making the American 
visitors familiar with the methods, difficulties, and 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 263 

successes of practical missionary work. These visits 
and the inspiration afforded by them cannot fail to 
arouse a deeper and more widely spread interest in 
missions among the churches at home. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MISSIONS SINCE 1900 

Burma. 

Since the publication of the first edition of this 
history, in 1900, the growth of the Baptist missions 
in Burma has not been rapid. Only four new 
stations have been established : at Kengtung, Pyin- 
mana, Taunggyi, and Pyapon. Only one of these 
may be considered an advance movement, that 
at Kengtung on the border of China, which repre- 
sents the new interest in the gospel among the 
Shans and other wild tribes of that region. The 
other stations are divisions of other fields made 
necessary by the growth in the number of converts. 
The advance in the missions in Burma continues to 
be chiefly among the Karens and other tribes. The 
Burmans as yet resist the gospel. In connection 
with the Judson centennial celebration an effort 
is being made to raise the number of converts 
in Burma to one hundred thousand, and the contri- 
butions of native Christians to one hundred thou- 
sand rupees. Of the nine hundred and sixteen 
churches in Burma, seven hundred and seventeen 
are entirely self-supporting, a record unequaled in 
the history of Christian missions. 



264 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

Assam. 

Two new stations have been opened in Assam ; 
one at Jorhat, for the immigrants that come from 
other parts of India to work in the flourishing tea- 
gardens of Assam. The training-school for native 
preachers in the Assam Valley is also located here. 
The other new station is at Sadiya, the most ad- 
vanced post in northeastern Assam. It is worthy 
of note that the first Baptist missionaries to Assam 
established themselves at Sadiya; but the station 
was abandoned in 1839 as being too far from the 
base of supplies, and is only now reopened. The 
latest, and a very interesting, feature of the mission 
in Assam is the return of Rev. William E. Witter, 
d. d., a former missionary, but for many years Dis- 
trict Secretary of the Society for New England. 
Doctor Witter goes out to establish a special gospel 
work among the hundreds of students in the Gov- 
ernment University at Gauhati. He finds a large 
and hopeful opening for his labors. Educational 
work in Assam is well planned. 

India. 

The continued growth of the wonderful Baptist 
Telugu Mission in Southern India has compelled 
the opening of six new stations since 1900. They 
are all divisions of older fields in which the expan- 
sion of the work has surpassed the ability of one 
missionary at one station to care for it. The growth 
of the mission is indicated by a comparison of the 






CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 265 

statistics on page 252, with those of the foreign 
missions given later. 

An interesting feature in the development of the 
missions in India is the union of the missions of the 
Free Baptists in Bengal with those under the man- 
agement of the American Baptist Foreign Mission 
Society. By the union of the Baptists and Free 
Baptists in missionary work the latter become mem- 
bers of the society on the same terms as Baptists 
and are represented on the Board of Managers, and 
continue their contributions to the mission treasury. 
The Bengal mission was begun by the Free Baptists 
in 1838, as the result of a communication from 
Rev. Amos Sutton, an English Baptist missionary, 
which was printed in the "Morning Star." Mr. 
Sutton had married Mrs. Coleman, of the Baptist 
mission in Arakan, and while visiting her relatives 
in America was the means of arousing the interest 
which led to the founding of the Telugu Mission in 
India by the Baptists, and of the Bengal Mission by 
the Free Baptists. Both missions have become 
strong and successful, and honored the manifest 
providence which led to their founding. 

China. 

The development of China since 1900 is one of 
the wonders of the twentieth century. The most 
ancient and autocratic empire in the world has be- 
come a republic. The most ancient and thoroughly 
organized system of education the world has ever 



266 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

known has been utterly discarded, and replaced by 
modern methods. The most wide-spread and 
deadly vice which has ever afflicted any people 
of the world has been largely suppressed in one 
decade. And the most secluded and conservative 
people in the world have thrown themselves open 
to new ideas, modern methods, and to a career 
of progress. One-fourth of the population of the 
world has waked up from a sleep of ages, and is 
moving to take the prominent and powerful place 
which awaits it among the nations of the earth. 

All this is chiefly the result of Christian missions. 
Mission converts gained the idea of freedom ; mis- 
sion schools proved the superiority of modern over 
the ancient educational methods, and started the 
most of the leaders in the revolution in China on 
their careers. It is fair to say, however, that the 
positive evangelistic results of the missions in China 
have not kept pace with the educational and gov- 
ernmental effects. Yet there has been advance 
especially in opportunity, and six new stations indi- 
cate in some degree the progress of our American 
Baptist Missions in China : two of these are in 
the South China Mission, two in the East, and 
two in the West China Mission. All missionaries 
in China are facing the future with eager anticipa- 
tion. And it is noteworthy that in China union 
movements in missions have far outrun those in all 
other mission fields. The vast opportunities demand 
the strength which comes from union. 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 267 

Japan. 

It must be admitted that the golden prospects of 
the earlier years of missions in Japan have not been 
fulfilled. This is partly due to the apathy of the 
Christian world, which neglected full improvement 
of the years when social and religions life in Japan 
was in flux and most easily molded. And it is 
partly due to the bright but fickle nature of the 
Japanese, who soon tired of the spiritual features of 
Christianity while eagerly availing themselves of 
the material advantages of Christian civilization. 
American Baptists have, however, opened three new 
stations in Japan in the last decade. The Northern 
and the Southern Baptist missionaries from the 
United States have united in one theological semi- 
nary at Yokohama, and are laboring in the heartiest 
cooperation. While no longer flushed with antici- 
pations of speedy and complete victory, mission- 
aries in Japan are sturdily and steadily forging 
ahead in a contest with not too favorable conditions. 
God grant that the Christian world may not make 
the same mistake in China in its day of transforma- 
tion that it made in Japan, by not seizing the day 
of revolution to put a Christian spirit into the 
changing people ! 

The Congo, Africa. 

The Congo country people have never recovered 
from the murderous and desolating policy of King 
Leopold of Belgium, which depopulated whole dis- 



268 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

tricts by slaying men and women by tens of thou- 
sands in the mad pursuit of more rubber. By this, 
missionary advance into the interior, which at one 
time appeared so promising, was effectually checked. 
Two new stations, have, however, been opened 
nearer the coast, and the work at the older stations 
has been carried on with a fair degree of success. 

The Philippine Islands. 

Thirteen years ago Baptist mission work in the 
Philippine Islands had just begun. Early in the 
occupation by the United States, the islands were 
divided by agreement between the different Chris- 
tian missions, in order that there might be no over- 
lapping, and that the work might be carried on in 
the most effective manner. To American Baptists 
were assigned Negros and Panay, in the Visayan 
group. The work centers at three stations, Iloilo 
and Capiz on Panay, and Bacolod on Negros, and 
the success has been most gratifying, the number 
of converts already surpassing those in the churches 
in Japan. The United States has done a splendid 
work in introducing general education in the Philip- 
pines. The people, as a whole, can read, and the 
Baptist mission press at Iloilo is an effective 
mission agency. The New Testament has been 
translated into Visayan by Rev. Eric Lund. The 
Filipinos are cordial and easily won to the gospel, 
and the future of the mission would appear most 
encouraging were it not for the proposal before 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 269 

Congress at the date of this writing to give the 
Philippines their full independence in eight years. 
In the minds of those most familiar with the numer- 
ous races of the islands, this means interracial war 
and internal disorder. The future of the islands 
under independence it is impossible to predict. 

Europe. 

Not much worthy of special note has occurred in 
the Baptist missions in Europe during the last 
decade, except in Russia. Here the ardent hopes 
raised by the Manifesto of Religious Freedom issued 
by the emperor have been crushed by a resurrection 
of the reactionary and oppressive measures of the 
priesthood of the National Church. Recently sev- 
eral of the Baptist preachers who visited America at 
the time of the Baptist World Alliance in Phila- 
delphia in 1911 have been again imprisoned. Rev. 
Wilhelm Fetler, of St. Petersburg, whose addresses 
while in the United States aroused such extraordi- 
nary interest, has been enabled, by contributions 
from England and America, to complete his taber- 
nacle and preaches to crowds, and wins multitudes 
of converts. The opportunities for Baptist advance 
under the special conditions existing in Russia appear 
limitless, if more freedom could be secured. The 
efforts of the delegation of Baptists from England 
and America, led by Rev. Robert S. Mac Arthur, 
d. d., ll. D., President of the Baptist World Alli- 
ance, do not appear to have gained the greater lib- 



270 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

erty for Baptists which was asked. It is difficult to 
forecast the future of Russia in religion or in poli- 
tics. The Southern Baptist Mission in Italy continues 
to make progress, and the Baptist work in central 
Europe holds its glorious course. The organization 
of the Baptist World Alliance has brought new 
courage and strength to the Baptists of Europe, by 
bringing them into organic relations with the power- 
ful Baptist bodies of England and America. 

South America. 

In 1903 the Southern Baptist Convention opened 
a mission in Argentina, the most advanced and 
rapidly growing country in South America. The 
work is growing hopefully with the progress of the 
country. The missions in Brazil are extraordinarily 
prosperous in spite of persecutions and difficulties. 

Mexico, Cuba, and Porto Rico. 

In Mexico the missions of both the Northern and 
Southern Baptists have been seriously affected by 
the revolutionary disturbances which have afflicted 
that unhappy country during the last few years. 
Nearly all the American missionaries of all bodies 
have been obliged to return to the United States for 
safety. The future of the missions is linked with 
the political outcome of the present internal warfare. 
In Cuba the missions of both Southern and North- 
ern Baptists are full of promise. The Southern 
Baptists are pushing Sunday-school work for the 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 271 

children, and have found great encouragement. The 
Northern Baptists have fifty-four churches, thirty- 
eight houses of worship, and eight parsonages in 
Cuba. Both missions have large accessions every 
year. Baptist work in Cuba is the most prosperous 
work on the island. The work of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society in Porto Rico is also 
full of encouragement. It has there now ninety- 
one churches, with four thousand eight hundred and 
thirty-eight members, and property valued at two 
hundred and seventy-three thousand four hundred 
and fifty dollars. The same society has recently 
adopted a mission on San Salvador. 

Changes in Organization. 

The most important step taken by American Bap- 
tists in recent years in missionary organization was 
the formation of the Northern Baptist Convention. 
This was decided on at the Anniversaries in Wash- 
ington in 1907, and the organization was consum- 
mated at Oklahoma City, Okla., in 1908, and 
further perfected at Portland, Ore., in 1909. In 
a preamble the convention declares " its belief in 
the independence of the local church, and in the 
purely advisory nature of all denominational organi- 
zations composed of representatives of the churches." 
The convention is a strictly delegated body, and the 
By-laws provide that the delegates to the conven- 
tion shall be annual members of all cooperating or- 
ganizations, and that these shall regulate their 



272 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

expenditures, solicit funds, incur indebtedness only 
with the approval of the convention, and shall sub- 
mit their books and accounts to the convention. All 
the missionary societies of the Northern Baptists 
have come into cooperation with the Northern Bap- 
tist Convention, and the effect of the organization of 
the convention has been to transfer the management 
of the missionary societies and the missions from 
those who contribute to their support to the dele- 
gates of the churches as a whole, changing from a 
financial to a representative basis. A system of ap- 
portionment of the budgets of all the missionary 
societies among the churches has also been adopted, 
and this centennial year is signalized by a strong 
effort to raise the contributions of the Baptists of 
the Northern States to a standard of three million 
dollars. 

1813-1913. 

A survey of the first century of American Baptist 
foreign missions is a cause for wonder and gratitude 
for the past, and an incentive to more ardent and 
aggressive enthusiasm for the future. The little 
body of Baptists, numbering about seventy thousand, 
which adopted Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Jud- 
son as its first foreign missionaries in 1813, has 
now grown to five million four hundred and fifty- 
four thousand one hundred and ninety-eight. De- 
spised by the stronger religious bodies of one hun- 
dred years ago, it has now become, if the relative 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 273 

rate of increase shown in the United States census 
of 1900 has continued, as will probably appear when 
the census of religious bodies taken in 1910 is pub- 
lished, the largest body of Protestant Christians in 
the United States. But more gratifying even than 
the growth in numbers has been the develop- 
ment of spiritual breadth and power. The Baptists 
of America in 1813 were scattered and weak and 
without regular and adequate means of communica- 
tion or of united action. The unity inaugurated 
by the formation of the first foreign missionary 
societies has gone forward in lines indicated in the 
preceding pages, until to-day the numerous mission- 
ary and other organizations furnish facilities and 
methods for the exercise of every form of Christian 
activity. In the Southern States these activities 
center in the Southern Baptist Convention, a direct 
offshoot of the General Missionary Convention of 
1814, and in the Northern States all the principal 
organizations are cooperating in the more recently 
formed Northern Baptist Convention. And the ulti- 
mate unity of all Baptists in America is expressed 
in "The General Convention of the Baptists of 
North America," the quadrennial meetings of which 
supply an occasion for all the Baptists of the West- 
ern Hemisphere to come together to consider those 
questions which are of common concern. In these 
hundred years the Baptists of America, who, in 
1814, hardly merited the name of denomination 
assumed in the first article of the General Mission- 
s 



274 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

ary Convention formed in that year, have become a 
complete Baptist denomination, organized not on 
Episcopal or hierarchical lines, but in accordance 
with that polity of pure democracy which has always 
been the pride and the glory of the Baptists. 

The good providence of God, which sent to 
American Baptists a missionary already on the field 
and in need of support to arouse them to the 
formation of their first missionary society, has con- 
tinued to lead them in all their missionary oper- 
ations abroad. It is a remarkable fact that in no 
single instance in the selection of the missionary 
fields has the original impulse proceeded from the 
management of the societies at home. Every field 
now occupied by our Baptist missions has been 
brought to the attention of the denomination by in- 
fluences from abroad of one sort or another. It 
is not wrong in itself for a people to choose a field 
and send forth missionaries to any field they may 
select; but it has been the peculiar happiness of 
American Baptists always to follow the guiding 
hand of the Lord in the selection of their mission- 
ary fields. 

They were led to Burma by the conversion of 
Adoniram Judson and his wife to Baptist views. 
They entered Assam by the invitation of the Chief 
Commissioner of the Province. The Telugu Mis- 
sion in South India and the Bengal Mission were 
established because of the appeals of an English 
Baptist missionary visiting the relatives of his 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 275 

American wife. Missions to the Chinese were 
begun by the noble act of the missionaries in Bur- 
ma, in sending one of their own number to open 
Christian work among that great people. The 
founding of Baptist missions in Japan was the work 
of a sailor who first landed on the shores of that 
then secluded country on the first expedition of 
Commodore Perry, of the United States Navy. The 
Congo Mission in Africa came to American Baptists 
because of the kindness shown to two young English 
evangelists by one who was afterward secretary of 
our foreign missions. The beginning of Baptist 
mission work in South America was due to the 
devotion of Lough Fook, a free Chinaman, who 
sold himself into slavery that he might preach the 
gospel to his countrymen in Demarara. The Baptist 
mission in Mexico was begun by two Englishmen, 
in whose work the Baptists of the United States 
later became interested. And it was the occupation 
of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, as de- 
pendencies of the United States, which led to the 
establishment of American Baptist Missions in these 
islands ; while all the great and prosperous missions 
in Europe can be traced directly to the midnight 
baptism of Johann G. Oncken and his companions 
in the river Elbe, near Hamburg. In every mis- 
sionary field of American Baptists God has gone 
before, like a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of 
fire by night, to indicate the places where the mis- 
sionary feet of American Baptists should rest. And 



276 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

he has wondrously blessed them in the fields which 
he selected for their labors. 

That the spirit of missions is a spirit of unity has 
been shown not only in its effect upon the Baptists 
of America, but in the conduct of missions on vari- 
ous fields. It is a fact worthy of careful consider- 
ation that nearly all the most effective appeals 
for Christian cooperation and union in service have 
come from the mission fields. In Japan the North- 
ern and Southern Baptist missionaries devised the 
plan for a common theological seminary, urged 
it upon the home Boards, and have put it into 
practical and harmonious operation. Northern and 
Southern Baptist missionaries have also united in 
one Baptist college at Shanghai, China. It is coop- 
peration in missionary work which has brought to- 
gether the Baptists and the Free Baptists of the United 
States. And beyond Baptist limits the spirit of cooper- 
ation and union in Christian work is extending. A hos- 
pital supported by the missionary societies of four de- 
nominations has been opened at Chengtu, West China; 
and an English Baptist, Rev. Timothy Richards, 
d. d., has, by the consent of the missionaries of all 
bodies, been placed at the head of Christian educa- 
tional work, to meet the tremendous demands of the 
present exigency in that great empire, now in the 
throes of a vast but peaceful revolution. The 
scheme contemplates local primary schools under 
denominational control and support ; secondary 
schools sometimes denominational and sometimes 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 277 

union as circumstances may indicate ; but f all colleges 
and professional schools are to be wholly interde- 
nominational and union. 

Is not this the practical union for which our 
Saviour prayed, "that they all may be one"? 
What does it matter if there are different local and 
subsidiary names, and varying forms of worship, if 
all the followers of Christ are known by the com- 
mon name, Christian, and all are working in har- 
mony for the crowning of Christ as King in all 
the earth? 

This spirit of union, in practical Christian work 
so manifest on the mission fields, is leavening the 
churches of all bodies at home. It appears in the 
frequent consultations of missionary officials, in the 
formation of such bodies as the Home Missions 
Council, including all evangelical denominations, the 
Woman's Home Missions Council, the Woman's 
Interdenominational Committee for Missionary 
Education, the Laymen's Missionary Move- 
ment, the Young People's Movement for Mis- 
sionary Education, the more recent development 
of the Student Volunteer Movement, the Ecumen- 
ical Missionary Councils, the Men and Religion 
Movement, and the Federation of the Churches 
of Christ in America. 

In these early years of the twentieth century the 
Christian world is becoming one as never before, 
and is moving grandly on as a united army, to the 
conquest of all the world for our Lord. Let the 



278 AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONS 

motto of the Moravian Church be emblazoned on 
all the banners of the churches of Christ : "Noster 
Agnus Vincit: Eum sequamur," "Our Lamb is 
conquering: let us follow him." 

Protestant Missionary Statistics of the World, 1910. 
Home income, $26,890,104; income on fields, 
$5,249,405 ; ordained missionaries, 6,637 ; laymen, 
3,287; wives, 6,758; unmarried women, 4,791; 
total missionaries, 21,248; ordained natives, 6,159; 
total native helpers, 91,513; total missionary force, 
113,207; stations and outstations, 45,540; com- 
municants, 2,222,892; added in 1910, 139,899; 
adherents, 4,951,325; schools, 30,215; scholars, 
1,562,039. 



CENTENNIAL SUPPLEMENT 



279 



i;wtoiCDo:oto 



Missionaries 
Men. 



I »c cr te eooc 



Missionaries 
Single Women. 



8 5S 



MifrCjaihSHon 



Total Missionaries 
Including Wives. 






Native 
Workers. 



Organized 
Churches. 



U » M 

8 2 8 



Places for 
Regular Meetings. 



J-AM* 001 



g g S g 



Church 
Members. 



igg^ggi 



Added by Baptism 
DuriDg Year. 



1— to to to V> CO t 

*. ►- to >-> CO go < 



Schools Of All 
Grades. 



M<IM03tao>Ol CO 

i ; V; i : ootoVJo 



Number Under 
Instruction. 



its; 



Native 
Contributions. 



Hospitals and 
Dispensaries. 



: -:■?" :>; v o: 



Patients 
Treated. 



GENERAL INDEX 



Abbott, Elisha L. : sailing of, 44 ; 
and the Bassein mission, 74. 

Adams, Joseph S., opened mission 
at Hanyang, 169. 

Artamsen, Hans, missionary in 
Siam, 157. 

Africa : beginning of missions in, 
39, 182; nature of missions in, 
188. 

African Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety, organization, 39. 

African Native Church, the, 
changed to Baptist. 190. 

Allan. Mrs., gift for Liu Chiu mis- 
sion, 178. 

American and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety, formation of, 50. 

American and Foreign Missionary 
Society, formation of, 91. 

American Baptists: growth of. 
238 ; first in United States in be- 
nevolent contributions, 238 ; one 
denomination, 235. 

" American Baptist," the, 92. 

American Baptist Anti-Slavery 
Convention, formation, 53. 

American Baptist Free Mission 
Society, formation of, 91. 

American Baptist Home Mission 
Society : founding of, 88 ; mis- 
sion of, in Mexico, 206 ; its work 
in Cuba, 210; work of, in Porto 
Rico. 211. 

American Baptist Missionary 
Union, the, change of name of 
convention to, 70. 

American Baptist Publication So- 



ciety : takes Bible work of Bap- 
tists, 52 ; formation of, 81 ; aid to 
missions in Sweden, 195. 

American Bible Society, relations 
with, 46. 

American Bible Union, formation 
of, 50. 

American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions, formation 
of. 9. 

Amherst, occupied, 36. 

Arakan : Judson's voyage to, 24 ; 
ceded to the English, 36. 

Argentine Republic, Baptist work 
in, 205. 

Arnold, Albert N., missionary in 
Greece, 200. 

Arthur, J. H., missionary in Japan, 
175. 
| Ashmore. William : arrival of, at 
Bangkok, 153 ; arrival of, at Swa- 
tow, 163. 

Assam: opening missions in, 45, 
122 : missions to animistic races 
in, 128 ; new stations in, 264. 

Atlantic cable, first use of, for Bap- 
tist missions, 108. 

Aungbinle. imprisonment at, 33. 

Ava : first visit to. 27 : second visit 
to, 32 ; imprisonment at, 33. 

Baldwin, Thomas: correspond- 
ence of, with William Carey, 6 ; 
with Adoniram Judson, 11. 

Bangkok : opening of mission at, 
152: burning of mission build- 
ings of, 154. 



GENERAL INDEX 



281 



Banks, C. B., first to reach Stan- 
ley Pool, 216. 

Banza Manteke, revival at, 187. 

Baptism : of two thousand two 
hundred and twenty-two in one 
day, 141; of one thousand six 
hundred and seventy-one in one 
day, 147. 

Baptist General Tract Society : re- 
moval to Philadelphia, 31 ; for- 
mation of, 81. 

"Baptist Missionary Magazine": 
circulation of, in South declined, 
3 ; adopted by the General Con- 
vention. 29 ; name of, changed, 7. 

Baptist Missionary Society for 
Propagating the Gospel in India 
and other Foreign Parts, forma- 
tion of, 12. 

Baptist Young People's Society, 
the first, 8. 

Baptist Youth's Missionary So- 
ciety, New York, formation of, 7. 

Baptists, position of, in 1812, 4. 

Barchet, S. P., missionary at Ning- 
po, 167. 

Ban, Italy, baptism of church of 
seventy-five members, 63. 

Bassein : beginning of Sgaw-Karen 
mission in, 74, 105 ; separation of, 
from the Missionary Union, 92, 
110; self-support in, 105. 

Beecher. John S. : missionary at 
Bassein, 76 ; separation of, from 
Missionary Union, 110. 

Bennett, A. A., founded Yokohama 
Theological Seminary, 175. 

Bennett, Cephas, superintendent 
of Baptist Mission Press in Bur- 
ma, 109. 

Bhamo. course of mission at, 112. 

Bible Bay, arrangements for, 86. 

Bickel, Philip: appointed by 
American Baptist Publication 
Society, 83; manager of German 
Baptist Publication House. 195. 

Binney, J. G. : founded Karen 



I Theological Seminary, 107: 
founded Rangoon Baptist Col- 
lege, 107. 

Bolles, Lucius: corresponding sec- 
retary of the General Conven- 
tion, 31 ; and formation of Home 
Mission Society, 89. 

Bond, A. L., loss of, 65. 

Boston Association, formation 
of, 6. 

Boston, headquarters transferred 
to, 30. 

Bowen, T. J., transferred to Bra- 
zil, 64. 

Brand, J. C, missiouary at Mito, 
177. 

Brayton, Durlin L. : translator of 
Pwo-Karen Bible, 109; separa- 
tion of, from the Missionary 
Union, 110: saw whole mission- 
ary growth, 239. 

Brazil, opening of mission in, 64, 
203. 

Bright, Edward : and the Telugu 
mission, 134 ; and the Congo 
mission, 185 ; home secretary of 
the Missionary Union, 73. 

Broady, Knut O., president of 
Stockholm Theological Semi- 
nary, 196. 

Branson, Miles : founder of Now- 
gong Orphan Institution, 124; 
dictionary of, 124. 

Brown, Nathan: opened mission 
in Assam, 45 ; connection with 
American Baptist Free Mission 
Society, 93 ; translated New Tes- 
tament into Assamese, 124 : into 
Japanese, 222 ; missionary in Ja- 
pan, 175. 

Brown University, the first Baptist 
educational institution, 12. 

Buel, R. F., missionary in Greece, 
200. 

Burma: character of native king- 
dom of, 21, 103; climate of. 22; 
Baptist missions in, 102, 119 ; con- 



282 



GENERAL INDEX 



quest of upper, 112 ; editions of 
the Bible in, 109 ; martyrs in mis- 
sions of, 117; other missions in, 
104; self-support in, 119; Baptist 
missionary convention in, 120. 

Burman Bible : Judson's, produc- 
tion of, 22 ; providentially saved, 
36. 

Burman church, the first, 26. 

Burman dictionary printed, 33. 

Burman theological school, be- 
ginning of, 107. 

Butler, John W., founder of Bap- 
tist work in Mexico, 206. 

Camp, J. H., collections of, for 
Smithsonian Institution, 217. 

Campbell, George, opened mission 
in Kayin, 161. 

Campbell, W. \\\, opened mission 
in the Deccan, 118. 

Canadian Baptist mission at- 
tempts in Siam, 155. 

Canton Station of Southern Bap- 
tist Convention, 58, 160. 

Carey, Felix, in Burma, 21, 254. 

Carey, Lott, appointed missionary, 
40. 

Carpenter, C. H. : missionary at 
Bassein, 76; and Rangoon Bap- 
tist College, 107 ; use of cable for, 
108; death of, in Japan, 177. 

Carpenter, Mrs. C. H., supported 
mission in Hokkaido, 177. 

Carson, A. E., opened station for 
the Kachins, 16, 116. 

Cauldwell, Thomas, treasurer, 17. 

Chandler, John H., mission printer 
in Siam, 154. 

Charleston Association, formation 
of, 6. 

Chase, Irah, deputy to France, 42 ; 
191. 

Chekiang Baptist Association, for- 
mation of, 167. 

Children of missionaries iD serv- 
ice, 118. 



China: plan to reach west prov- 
inces of, by Assam, 45 ; missions 
in, 159; formation of Baptist 
publication society in, 161: up- 
risings in, 169; since 1900, 265. 

Chittagong, mission at, 27. 

Civil War, its effect ou Baptist 
missions, 61, 78. 

Clark, E. W. : as an explorer, 215 ; 
opened mission to the Nagas, 
127. 

Clement, E. W., principal of Dun- 
can Academy, Tokyo, 176. 

Clough, Johu E. : appointment as 
missionary, 126 ; founded Ongole 
College, 225. 

Cochrane, W. W., opened station 
at Namkham. 116. 

Colley, W. W., transferred to 
Yoruba mission, 62. 

Colman, James: arrival of, In 
Burma, 25; death of, 27. 

Colman, Mrs. James, married 
Amos Sutton, 132. 

Columbian University: founding 
of, 29 ; transfer of, to Board of 
Trustees, 30. 

Commerce, services of Baptist mis- 
sions to, 231. 

Concert of prayer for missions 
recommended, 29. 

Congo mission, story of, 182, 267. 

Cote, W. N., missionary in Rome, 
63, 201. 

Crawford, T. P., missionary in 
China, 162. 

Cretin, J. B., author of " Tracts on 
Baptism," etc., 193. 

Cuba: opening of mission in, 66; 
division of, between Northern 
and Southern Baptist Boards. 68, 
210 ; reopening of mission work 
in, 209, 270. 

Cushing, J. N. : made Shan dic- 
tionary, 221 ; reducing Chin lan- 
guage to written form. 219 : trans- 
lator of Bible into Shau, 109; 



GENERAL INDEX 



283 



founder of mission at Bhamo, 
112 ; travels of, in Shanland, 215. 
Cutler, 0. T., opened mission in 
Assam, 45. 

David, W. J., transferred to Yoruba 
mission, 62. 

Day, Samuel S., first missionary to 
theTelugus, 44. 133. 

Dean, William, arrival of, in Siam. 
42, 153. 

Dearing, John L.. president of 
Yokohama Theological Semi- 
nary, 176. 

Deccan, opening of mission in the, 
148. 

Demarara, Baptist mission in, 63. 

Denmark. Baptist mission in, 198. 

Deputations, 44, 77. 

Diaz, A. J. : conversion of, and 
founding Baptist mission in 
Cuba, 66, 211 ; with American 
Baptist Publication Society, 87. 

Dibrugarh, opening of station at, 
129. 

Dikins, Jose P., converted in San- 
tiago, 210. 

Downie, D., and Nellore mission, 
151. 

Duncan Academy, opening of, 176. 

Duncan, Samuel W., interest in 
Tokyo Baptist Academy, 176. 

Eager, J. H., missionary in Italy, 
201. 

East India Company, the, expelled 
the Judsons from India, 20. 

Education, services of Baptist mis- 
sions to, 224. 

" Edwin Forrest," loss of the, 65. 

English Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety, formation of, 6. 

Faunce, D. \V., visit of, to Greece. 

200. 
Female Mite Society, Providence. 

R. I., formation of, 8. 



Fetzer, J. G., professor in Ham- 
burg Theological Seminary, 195. 

Fielde, Miss Adele M., organiza- 
tion of Bible women by, 164. 

Finland, mission in, 197. 

Firth, John, work of, among tea 
garden laborers, 127. 

Fisher, C. H. D., opened work in 
Mito, 176. 

Foster, John M., organized Bible 
classes, 165. 

France, Baptist missions in, 191. 

" Franc's Chapel," 106. 

Friesen, Abram, opened Nalgonda 
station, 149. 

Gardner, George W., visit of, to 
Greece, 200. 

Garo Mission, character of, 125. 

General Missionary Convention of 
the Baptist Denomination in the 
United States of America for 
Foreign Missions: delegates to 
the meeting of, for organization, 
13 ; organization of, 14 ; constitu- 
tion of, 14. 

Geography, services of Baptist mis- 
sions to, 214. 

German Baptist mission, begin- 
ning of, 42, 193. 

German Baptist Publication So- 
ciety, 83. 

Goble, Jonathan, missionary in 
Japan, 93, 174. 

Goddard, Josiah, founded mission 
at Ningpo, 166 ; arrival at Bang- 
kok, 153 ; translated New Testa- 
ment, 222. 

Goddard, J. R., translated Old 
Testament, 167, 222. 

Goduka, Jonas, founder of the Af- 
rican native church, 190. 

Going, Jonathan, formation of 
Home Mission Society and, 88. 

Gold Coast, mission on the, 188. 

Gordon, A. J., and the Congo mis 
siou, 186. 



284 



GENERAL INDEX 



Granger, James N., deputation to 
Burma, 77. 

Grant, J. S., medical missionary at 
Ningpo, 167. 

Graves, R. H., missionary In 
China, 61, 160. 

Greece, mission in, 45, 199. 

Guinness family and the mission 
on the Congo, 183. 

Gurney, A. K., completed transla- 
tion of Assamese Bible, 124, 221. 

Hakkas, opening of mission 
among, 164. 

Hall, Gordon, sailing of, 10, 

Hanson, Ola, reduced Chin lan- 
guage to written form, 219. 

Hanyang, opening of mission at, 
169. 

Harrington, C. K., professor in Yo- 
kohama Seminary, 176. 

Harris, Norman, separation of, 
from Missionary Union, 110. 

Harris, Mrs. Robert, gift of, to Dun- 
can Academy, 176. 

Hayti, mission in, 42, 92. 

Henderson, A. H., opened station 
at Mongnai, 115. 

Hickey, James M., founder of first 
Baptist church in Mexico, 90, 206. 

Holmes, J. L., murder of, 162. 

Holton, Calvin, missionary to Li- 
beria, 40. 

Hough, George H. : his arrival in 
Burma. 23 ; retired from mission, 
36 ; leaves Rangoon, 24. 

Huntley, G. A., missionary at 
Hanyang, 169. 

Indians, missions among Amer- 
ican, 30, 38. 

Insein, site of theological semi- 
nary, 106, 107. 

Italy, mission in, 63, 201. 

James, J. S.. loss of, 65. 

Japan : opening of Southern Bap- 



tist mission in, 65 : the progress 
of missions in, 173, 267. 

Jenkins, Horace, principal of Bible 
school at Shaohing, 166. 

Jewett, Lyman : at Prayer Meet- 
ing Hill, 135; missionary to the 
Telugus, 133, 134 ; translated New 
Testament into Telugu, 222. 

Johnson, J. W., opened mission at 
Swatow, 163. 

Jones, John Taylor, first mission- 
ary to Siani, 42, 152. 

Judson, Adouiram : sailing of, 9; 
appointed missionary of the 
Baptist Convention, 17; arrival 
of, in Burma, 20 ; baptism of, 11 ; 
first missionary to heathen king- 
dom of the East, 102; imprison- 
ment of, 33 ; incident at Andover 
Seminary, 10 ; services to geog- 
raphy, 214 ; translated the Bible 
into Burman, 220 ; also 253f. 

Judson, Ann Hasseltine : sailing 
of, 10 ; baptism of, 11 ; return 
of, from America, 33; death of, 
35 ; also 253f. 

Karen home mission societies, 
formation of, 105. 

Karen military police, formation 
of, 114. 

Karen missions in Siam, 155. 

Karen theological seminary, be- 
ginning, 107. 

Karens, tribal divisions among, 
111. 

Khamti, the same as Shans, 45. 

Kincaid, Eugeuio. travel of, in 
Upper Burma, 215. 

Kirkpatrick, M. B., opened station 
at Hsipaw, 115. 

Knowlton, M. J., "the Western 
Confucius," 166. 

Kobner, Julius, missionary in Den- 
mark, 194. 

Kols. mission to, 126. 

Ko Thah Byu Memorial Hall, 106. 



GENERAL INDEX 



285 



Lagos, self-support at, 188. 
Lehmann, George W., missionary 

in Germany, 194. 
Lehmann, Joseph, professor in 

German Baptist Theological 

Seminary, 195. 
Liberia: opening of missions in, 

40, 62, 182; discontinuance of 

missions in, 62, 182. 
Lincoln, Heman, first president of 

American Baptist Home Mission 

Society, 89. 
Literature, service of Baptist mis- 
sions to, 220. 
Liu Chiu Islands, mission in, 

178. 
Livingstone Inland Mission, the, 

183. 
Lord, E. C, missionary at Ningpo, 

16G. 
Lott Carey Foreign Missionary 

Convention, the, 189. 
Lough Fook, sold himself into 

slavery, 63. 
Loughridge, A., principal of On- 

gole High School, 150. 
Love, Horace T., missionary in 

Greece, 199. 
Lund, Eric, opened mission in 

Philippine Islands, 180. 

MacGowan, D. J., opened mission 
at Ningpo, 166. 

Malcom, Howard, deputation to 
the missions in Asia, 44. 

Mandalay, opening of mission in, 
114. 

Manikan, Braulio, the first Fili- 
pino Baptist, 181. 

Mason, Francis : " The People and 
Productions of Burma," 216 ; 
translated the Bible into Sgaw 
Karen, 221. 

Mason, Marcus C. : as an explorer, 
215 ; opened station at Tura, 125. 

Massachusetts Baptist Mission So- 
ciety, formation of, 7. 



MeCormick, H. P., missionary in 
Porto Rico, 211. 

Meehan, John S., and Baptist Gen- 
eral Tract Society, 81. 

Mennonite Brethren, support by, 
of missionaries to the Telugus, 
149. 

Mexico : opening of mission in, 66, 
206 ; work of Publication Society 
in, 87 ; first Baptist church in, 90. 

Mikirs, opening of work among, 
128. 

Millionaires in 1812, 3. 

Mito, opening of work at, 176. 

Monroe, William C, missionary in 
Hayti, 42. 

Morris, Charles S., visit of, to Af- 
rica, 189. 

Moseley, H. R., missionary in 
Cuba, 210. 

Moulmein, missionary convention 
at, 77. 

Moung Ing, faithfulness of, 35. 

Moung Nau, baptism of "the first 
Burman convert," 26. 

Murdock, Johu N., and the Congo 
mission, 184. 

Nagas, opening of mission to, 127. 

Nalgonda, opening of station at, 
148. 

National Baptist Missionary Con- 
vention, the, 189. 

Nellore, opening of station at, 44. 

New England, commerce of, and 
effects of war of 1812 on, 2. 

New York Baptist Missionary Con- 
vention, 89. 

New York Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety, formation of, 8. 

New York, the Baptist Foreign 
Missionary Society, formation 
of, 12. 

Newell, Samuel and Harriet, sail- 
ing of, 10, 258. 

Ningpo, opening of mission at, 166. 

Norway, mission in, 85, 197. 



286 



GENERAL INDEX 



Nott, Samuel, sailing of, 10, 258. 
Nowgong Orphan Asylum, found- 
ing of, 124. 

O'Halloran, J. R., missionary in 

Cuba, 210. 
Oncken, Johann G., baptism of. 

42, 194. 
Ongole: evangelistic methods of, 

influence other missions, 149; 

first mission house at, 136 ; great 

Ingathering at, 136; Prayer 

Meeting Hill at, 135 ; subdivision 

of its field, 147 ; Baptist college 

at, 150. 
Osgood, S. M., printer of Judson's 

Bible, 109. 
Oungpenla, imprisonment of Jud- 

son at. 33. 

Packer, John, and Rangoon Bap- 
tist College, 107. 

Parshley, W. B., professor in Yoko- 
hama Theological Seminary, 176. 

Pascoe, Cephas, missionary in 
Greece, 199. 

Peck, John M., appointed mission- 
ary, 30. 

Peck, Solomon, deputation to 
Burma, 77. 

Pentecost on the Congo, the, 187. 

Perrine, S. A., established training 
school in Assam, 127. 

Petrick, C. E., labors among tea 
garden workers, 127. 

Philadelphia Association, forma- 
tion of, 6. 

Philadelphia Baptist Missionary 
Society, formation of, 8. 12, 13. 

Philippine Islands mission, the, 
180, 268. 

Phillips, E. G. : as an explorer, 
215; opened station at Tura, 
125. 

Philology, contributions of Bap- 
tist missions to, 218. 

Phinney, Frank D., superintend- 



ent of Baptist mission press in 
Burma, 110. 

Poate, Thomas P., missionary in 
Japan, 175. 

Porto Rico, Baptist work in, 211. 

Post, Albert L., president of Amer- 
ican Baptist Free Mission So- 
ciety, 92. 

Powell, \V. D., missionary in Mex- 
ico. 208. 

Prayer Meeting Hill, history of, 
135. 

Price, Jonathan: arrival in Bur- 
ma, 31 ; retired from mission, 36. 

Printing press in Burma, use of, 



Ramapatam, theological semi- 
nary at, 146. 

Rangoon Baptist College, found- 
ing of, 107. 

Rangoon, capture of, by the Eng- 
lish, 33. 

Rangoon Sgaw-Karen mission : 
beginning of, 105 ; separation of, 
from the Missionary Union, 92, 
110. 

Revolution, war of the, results of, 
1. 

Rhees, Henry H., missionary in 
Japan, 175. 

Rice. Luther: sailing of, 10; bap- 
tism of, 11 ; return of, to Amer- 
ica, 11 ; appointed missionary of 
the Baptist Convention. 17. 

Richards, Henry, missionary at 
Banza Manteke, 187. 

Roberts, I. J.: withdrawal of, 
from the General Convention, 
58; missionary career of, 59. 

Roberts, VV. H., reduced Chin lan- 
guage to writing, 219. 

Rohrer, J. Q. A., loss of, 65. 

Rome : opening of mission in, 62 ; 
chapel in, 63. 

Rose, A. T. : head of Burman theo- 
logical school, 107 ; separation 



GENERAL INDEX 



287 



of, from the Missionary Union, 

110. 
Rostan, J. C, deputation to 

France, 42, 192. 
Russia, Baptist work in, 198. 

Sadiya, first station in Assam, 123. 

Sailleus, Reuben, withdrew from 
McAll mission, 192. 

Sakellarios, Demetrios Z., mis- 
sionary in Greece, 200. 

Salem Bible Translation and For- 
eign Missionary Society, forma- 
tion of, 8. 

Sandoway: resort for persecuted 
Karen Christians, 75 ; reopening 
of mission work at, 115. 

Sandy Creek Association, forma- 
tion of, 6. 

Saratoga, Bible conference of, 1883. 
51. 

Savannah Baptist Society for For- 
eign Missions, formation of. 12 

Science, contributions of Baptist 
missions to, 216. 

Scott, J. H., supported by the 
Woman's Society of California. 
98. 

Sears, Barnas, baptism of Oncken 
and others, 42, 194. 

Self-support, beginning in Bas- 
sein mission, 76. 

Serampore mission, India : cor- 
respondence of, with America, 
6 : aid of, to the Judsons, 21, 23. 

Shanghai, station of the Southern 
Baptist Convention, 61, 162. 

fihans, mission to the, 45. 

Sharp, Daniel, and formation of 
Home Mission Society, 89. 

Shuck, J. Lewis : joined the 
Southern Baptist Convention, 58, 
153 : baptized the first convert 
in China, 160. 

Siam : opening of mission in, 42. 
152 ; mission to Chinese in, 155 ; 
mission to Karens in, 155. 



Sierra Leone, Baptist mission in, 
62. 

Simmons, E. Z., missionary at Can- 
ton, 161. 

Sims, A.: first to reach Stanley 
Pool, 216 ; made dictionary of 
Kiteke and Kiyansi, 219; visit 
of, to America, 186. 

Slavery, division of Baptists on 
the subject of, 53. 

Sloan, W. H., missionary in Bur- 
ma and Mexico, 207. 

Smith, Samuel F., author of "The 
Lone Star," 134. 

Smith, S. J., mission printer in 
Siam, 154. 

Sociology, services of Baptist mis- 
sions to, 227. 

Southern Baptist Convention: 
formation of, 56; first Mission 
Board to hold property in inte- 
rior of China, 161 ; opened mis- 
sion in Japan, 178 ; mission of, in 
Mexico, 206, 270. 

Stadling, Jonas, missionary of the 
American Baptist Publication 
Society, 84. 

Staughton, William : elected cor- 
responding secretary of Mis- 
sionary Society, 17 ; resignation 
of, 31. 

Stevens, Edward A., founded the 
Burman theological school, 107. 

Stevens, Edward 0., visit of, to 
Siam, 157. 

Stow, Baron, and Baptist General 
Tract Society, 81. 

Suiehaufu, opening of mission at, 
168. 

Sutton, Amos: married Mrs. 
James Colman, 28, 133; address 
by, on Telugus, 44, 133. 

Swatow, opening of mission at, 163. 

Sweden, Baptist mission in, 195. 

Taiping rebellion, relation of, to 
Baptist missions, 59. 



288 



GENERAL INDEX 



Talaings in Siam, mission to the, 
157. 

Taylor, George B., superintendent 
of Baptist missions in Italy, 201. 

Tea garden laborers, mission to. 
126. 

Teague, Colin, appointed mission- 
ary, 40 

Telugu Baptist Publication So- 
ciety, 86. 

Telugu converts from out-castes, 
144. 

Telugu mission : discussions re- 
garding abandonment of, 133 ; 
education in the, 150. 

Telugus, mission to, 43, 132. 

Tenasserim, ceded to English, 36. 

" The Lone Star," 44, 132, 134. 

•'The Morning Star," 109. 

"The Religious Herald," 109. 

"The Triennial Convention," 17. 

Thomas, Jacob, death of, 123. 

Thomson, R. A., opened mission 
in Liu Chiu Islands, 178. 

Tura, mission at, 125. 

Turkey, Baptist mission in, 85. 

Upcraft. William, opened mission 
in Western China, 168. 

Van Meter, Henry L., missionary 
at Bassein, 76. 

Van Meter, W. C, missionary in 
Rome, Italy, .85. 

Vinton, Justus H. : " The man 
who saved our lives," 105; sep- 
aration from the Missionary 
Union, 110. 

Virginia. Baptist Missionary So- 
ciety of, formation of, 12. 

Wade. Jonathan, arrival of, in 

Burma, 32. 
Waldo, Miss S. E., missionary in 

Greece, 200. 
Walker, Wareham, editor of "The 

American Baptist," 92. 



Waring, C. M., missionary to Li- 
beria, 40. 

Warner, George, opened mission 
in West China, 168. 

Warren Association, formation of, 
6. 

Warren, Jonah G., reply of, to Ly- 
man Jewett, 135. 

Webster, David, only Baptist mis- 
sionary resident in North Siam, 
156. 

Welch, James E., appointed mis- 
sionary, 30. 

Wheelock, E. W. : arrival of, in 
Burma, 25 ; death of, 26. 

Westrup, John O. : murder of, 66 ; 
missionary of the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention, 207. 

Westrup, T. M., missionary in 
Mexico, 66, 90, 206. 

Wiberg, Andreas, appointed by 
American Baptist Publication 
Society, 84, 195. 

Willard, Erastus, missionary to 
France, 42, 192. 

Williams. John, correspondence 
with William Carey, 6. 

Willmarth, Isaac, missionary to 
France, 42, 191. 

Woman's Baptist Missionary Soci- 
ety: the first, 8: formation of, 96. 

Woman's Bible Society of Phila- 
delphia, accepted Mr. A. J. Diaz 
as missionary, 67. 

Woman's Home Mission Societies, 
formation of, 100. 

Woman's Missionary Union, for- 
mation of, 99. 

Wood, George, agent of Baptist 
General Tract Society, 81. 

Yates, Matthew T., missionary in 

China, 61, 162. 
Yokohama, formation of Baptist 

church at, 175. 
Yoruba: opening of mission in, 

62 ; re-opening of mission in, 62. 



SEP 29 1913 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





014 669 909 1 



